Women's Basketball Championship: Southeastern survives Angelo in tourney opener
With a balanced attack that featured four double-digit scorers, Southeastern Oklahoma outlasted a gritty Angelo State squad Wednesday, 81-76, in the opening game of the Lone Star Conference women's basketball championship at Bartlesville's Bruin Fieldhouse.
After a called timeout by SOSU, Jasmine Hughey's running layup with 35 seconds to play gave the Savage Storm a four-point lead.
But after one ASU free throw, followed by a steal, the ‘Belles had a chance to tie. However an off-balanced 3-point attempt by Angelo guard Cassi Wright fell way short. Destiny Brown added two free throws for the Savage Storm to secure the win.
Brown, an All-LSC North Division first-team selection, led Southeastern with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Hughey scored 11 of her 17 points in the second half, while Kacey Russell finished with 11 points.
ASU sophomore Camille Perkins, a two-time All-LSC South Division first-team selection, led her team with 25 points. Ann Parks scored 13, while Lindsey Leatherman had 12 and Tiffany Hardwell chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds.
SOSU (21-7) kicked off the tournament with a 10-0 run to start the game, but needed clutch play in the second half to advance to the LSC semifinals, where they will meet the winner of West Texas A&M-Northeastern State.
ASU drops to 16-12 and will now have to wait to see how the South Central Regional rankings shake up. The ‘Belles currently rank eighth in Wednesday's latest poll with the top eight teams advancing to the regional tournament.
SOSU, sixth in the region, certainly helped its cause to advance to the regional. Although with Wednesday's win over ASU, the Savage Storm have their eyes set on the LSC Tournament championship, which provides an automatic berth to the regional.
Southeastern avenged a 21-point loss to Angelo back in December in a game where ASU led 30-3 late in the first half.
But Wednesday, it was the Storm that came out hot, scoring the first 10 points. However, ASU battled back to claim its first lead, 26-25, before SOSU eventually regained a lead and led 43-39 at halftime.
Both teams went back and forth in the second half and Leatherman's 3-pointer tied the score at 71-71 with just 5:27 to play.
But SOSU made four straight free throws and survived a furious attempt by ASU to tie the game in the final minute.
The close game marked the second straight year the LSC Tournament opener went down to the wire. A year ago, on the men's side, Abilene Christian and Southwestern Oklahoma went to overtime before ACU prevailed with a 108-98 win.
Southeastern Oklahoma State Notes
Junior forward Destiny Brown notched her Lone Star Conference leading 18th double-double of the season with 26 points and 11 rebounds... Sophomore forward Jasmine Hughey completed her 20th game of 10-or-more points as she finished with 17 points including a layup with 32 seconds remaining to give Southeastern a two-possession lead... Southeastern forced 20 turnovers with 12 steals to gain a 20-8 edge on points off turnovers... The win marks the first LSC Tournament win for Darrin Grover in three trips - other losses to Angelo State in 2007 and West Texas A&M in 2008... It was the Savage Storm's first LSC Tournament win over Angelo State in three tries. The Rambelles claimed wins in the 2002 LSC Semifinals and in the first round of the 2007 tournament...
Angelo State Notes
The Rambelles have reached nine straight Lone Star Conference postseason tournaments, and for the first time since 2003, ASU dropped its first round contest... ASU is now 7-2 in the first round during that span... Sophomore Camille Perkins scored 25 points in the loss Wednesday, her career postseason high, and eight points better than her previous mark of 17 against Northeastern State on March 6, 2008... Junior Tiffany Hardwell recorded her second double-double of the season, tallying 11 points and 10 rebounds Tuesday... The 'Belles seven first-half threes is higher than their season average of 4.9 threes per contest... ASU doubled their season average with 10 three-point buckets in the contest...
Southeastern Oklahoma State Quotes
Head Coach Darin Grover overall comments on game:
"We started well. We've had a problem in the past starting our games off like we did today. I liked the start even though we did jump out to a couple of 10-point leads to have them come back on us."
Coach Grover on getting first win in LSC Tournament:
"We expect to win. It got close in the final moments there, but I'll take the win. This time of season it doesn't matter if it's by 10 points or one point. I don't care how we get it."
Destiny Brown on final two free throws:
"I knew I needed to make them. I missed one a few minutes earlier and it could have cost us the game. I just tried to focus and put them in."
Angelo State Quotes
Head Coach Sally Brooks overall thought on game:
"It was a tough loss to take. We got the possessions we wanted to have in the final minutes, but we were unable to capitalize on them. I am proud of the way our girls came back being down by 10 points a couple of times. We just couldn't finish in the end."
