Nebraska 73, Chattanooga 59
COLLEGE STATION, Texas --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 11-seed women’s basketball team couldn’t hold off a late Nebraska rally Saturday evening at Reed Arena on the Texas A&M campus, falling 73-59 to the Cornhuskers in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Six-seeded (#24) Nebraska outscored Chattanooga 41-27 in the second half after rallying late in the first to take a 32-30 lead before a jumper from junior Faith Dupree (Knoxville, Tenn.) pulled Chattanooga even, 32-32 at intermission.
The Lady Mocs put together a 15-6 run to start the second half behind a trio of 3-pointers with junior Alex Black (Memphis, Tenn.) draining two of her four in the run to put Chattanooga up 47-38 with 15:49 to play.
After starting the latter period with a 6-of-7 shooting effort, UTC missed six of its next seven shots and the Huskers put together a 12-2 run to take its first lead since the 19:01 mark of the first half at 50-49 on a 3-pointer from Jordan Hooper.
The Lady Mocs managed to tie it up twice more and grab a couple of narrow leads with buckets from freshman Tatianna Jackson (Atlanta, Ga.) before Nebraska got out front for good. Hooper scored 11 of the Huskers final 15 points draining three 3-pointers and a pair of free throws.
Junior Taylor Hall (New Tazewell, Tenn.) started the game with three 3-pointers, tying her season-high and led three Chattanooga players in double-figures with 13 points and eight rebounds. Black was 4-of-5 from the 3-point line with 12 points and five assists while senior Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) added 11 points, making the Lady Mocs’ lone free throw on a 3-point play.
Nebraska shot 53.8 percent in the second half on 14-of-26 from the field for a final 48 percent effort. Hooper posted a game-high 21 points making 4-of-6 from the field and added 12 rebounds for a double-double. Lindsey Moore had 13 points and a game-high seven assists whiel Rachel Theriot added 12 points. Emily Cady just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine boards for the Huskers.
Chattanooga’s bench outscored the Huskers 15-13 but couldn’t hold their own in the paint with Nebraska outscoring UTC 32-18. The Lady Mocs were outrebounded 39-30 but won the battle on the offensive glass 9-7. Chattanooga force 15 Nebraska miscues but managed to score just five points while the Huskers had 11 points off 12 Chattanooga turnovers.
Chattanooga was 24-of-66 from the field and 10-of-28 from the 3-point line while making its sole free throw in the game. Nebraska, ranked 24th in the AP Top 25, was 24-of-50 with seven 3-pointers and made 18-of-23 from the charity stripe.
The Lady Mocs, the Southern Conference regular season and tournament champions, close out the season matching its best wins total at 29-4. Nebraska improves to 24-8 and will take on three-seed Texas A&M Monday night at Reed Arena.
McNeese State 66, Elon 58
ELON, N.C. – Kelsey Evans hauled down her 1,000th career rebound today, March 23, as the fourth-seeded Elon women’s basketball team (19-14) fell to eighth-seeded McNeese State (20-14), 66-58, in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational in Alumni Gym. Evans finishes her career as only the third player in program history to reach 1,000 points and rebounds.
Evans led all players with 28 points and finished with eight boards. Ali Ford scored 13 points, ending her impressive career with 2,020 points and 107 double-figure scoring games. Sam Coffer led the Phoenix on the glass with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Elon finished 24-of-63 from the field to shoot 38 percent, while being held to 14 percent from beyond the arc. McNeese State shot 42 percent from the field (24-of-57), including an impressive 44 percent from long distance (7-of-16). The Cowgirls won the slight advantage on the boards, 40-37.
The beginning of the fist half was tight until a Ford jumper at the 12:26 mark put the Phoenix up by five, 12-7, forcing a McNeese timeout. The Cowgirls responded with a 10-4 run to take a 17-16 lead. Smith called an Elon timeout before baskets by Evans and Coffer put the maroon and gold back up by four with nine minutes left in the half.
Elon reclaimed its five-point edge with 4:45 on the clock after a layup by Redmond to make it a 29-24 game. With two minutes to play and the Phoenix leading 31-29, McNeese was able to take the advantage after the Cowgirls’ Alaina Verdin was fouled on a three-pointer and a technical was called on Ford. McNeese made four of its five free throw attempts to take a 33-31 lead at the break.
Both teams played a fairly even first half with the Phoenix shooting 43 percent and the Cowgirls with a 44 percent mark from the field.
McNeese started the second half on a 6-2 run to take a six-point lead, 39-33. Elon answered with the next seven and regained the lead, 40-39, after an Evans pass under the basket led to a Shon Redmond layup with just under 15 minutes remaining.
The game went back and forth for the next few minutes until McNeese opened up a seven-point edge, 54-47, with 8:33 on the clock. The Phoenix chipped away and pulled within one, 56-55, after eight straight points from Evans and just under five to play.
The Cowgirls then managed to score the next seven to claim its largest lead of the game, 63-55. A three by Ford made it a five-point game with 1:08 remaining, giving the Phoenix a chance. However, Elon had only committed four team fouls thus far, forcing time off the clock before the maroon and gold could send the Cowgirls to the free throw line.
Only in the first bonus, McNeese missed in its first few trips to the charity stripe, but the Phoenix was not able to hit at the other end of the court, allowing the Cowgirls to finish with the win.
The loss snapped Elon’s 11-game home winning streak and was the first defeat for the Phoenix in Alumni Gym in the 2013 calendar year. Ford and Evans end their careers in the maroon and gold as two of the best players in program history, finishing second and sixth, respectively, on the program’s all-time scoring chart.