 |
|
| Overtime play at SoCon Tournament
leads to Mountaineer loss |
Brad Norman
Sports Beat |
Foster Hunt | The AppalachianJaymi Wilson (21) looking to get
around Georgia Southern’s defender. Sixth-seeded Mountaineers
fell to the third-seeded Eagles during the first round of SoCon
Tournament.
|
Before the game started,
Georgia Southern University’s Shawnica Hill was honored for
being selected to the All-Conference first team.
Then she went out onto the court and showed why she was honored.
Hill scored 22 points, collected nine rebounds
and keyed a Georgia Southern comeback as the third-seeded Lady Eagles
stormed back to defeat the sixth-seeded Mountaineers 82-71 in overtime
in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference women’s tournament
March 6.
The Mountaineers easily controlled the first half
of the game and led 36-27 at halftime. The team used an up-tempo
attack that consisted of fast breaks, outlet passes and a full court
press. The full court pressure forced Georgia Southern into some
crucial turnovers throughout the half. |
Once Georgia Southern
started the second half, they used a methodical, low-post game plan.
Georgia Southern head coach Rusty Cram called plays that fed the
ball to Hill nearly every possession and took advantage of the height
on his team.
“That’s one thing we wanted to do in this game, take advantage
of our height,” Cram said. “They came out ready to play,
but we knew we had the advantage inside.”
The two teams were as contrasted as two teams could be in the second
half, with Georgia Southern relying heavily on their post players
and the Mountaineers relying on running and jump shots.
Georgia Southern clawed back to a tie game at 67 apiece with 1:37
left in the game, but Lindsay Smith countered with a clutch three
pointer with under a minute left to put the Mountaineers up by three
points. In the final seconds, Georgia Southern’s Kristy McCorkle
made a jump shot with 22 seconds left to bring the Eagles within
two points.
After Smith missed the front end of a foul shot, Mimi Lindsey hit
a layup to tie the game with six seconds left.
In a frenzied finish, McCorkle stole the inbound pass and found
Jessica Everett under the basket, but her short jump shot rimmed
out with no time left, sending the game into overtime.
That would be the closest the Mountaineers would come to winning.
They shot eight shots in the extra period, but did not connect on
any of them, and Georgia Southern pulled away to claim victory.
The difference in the game was rebounding, clearly seen by Appalachian’s
inability to control the boards in the game’s final minutes.
ASU was out rebounded 58-40.
“We did a poor job of rebounding, especially in overtime,”
head coach Adrienne Shuler said.
“We gave up crucial rebounds in the crunch time. It’s
been our Achilles heel all year and this was no different. We gave
a tremendous effort, but we were a little tired. Our kids did a
tremendous job and I’m proud of them.”
Appalachian was led by senior Tiffani Johnson, who joined Hill on
the All SoCon first team. Johnson finished with 18 points and eight
rebounds.
Senior Jaymi Wilson played an inspired game and finished with 11
points, 10 rebounds and an outstanding defensive performance throughout
the game.
Rounding out the double-digit scorers were Smith with 14 and Southern
Conference Freshman of the Year Kiki Conyers with 14.
“I’ll remember the hard work we did during the season,”
Johnson said of her last game.
“I’ve never worked this hard in a season before in my
life. It was nice because we all got the rewards that came with
that. I’ll remember this whole season, and actually being a
team.” |
|
|
|
For an up tp date sports calendar below and
box scores click below!
|
|
 |
 |
