NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — In its first tournament game, Georgia Southern hid its youth fairly well. But by the semifinals, such deficiencies are hard to overcome.
Top-seeded Western Carolina used its depth and ability to get to the free-throw line to end Georgia Southern’s season Friday, sending the Lady Eagles home with a 73-59 loss in the Southern Conference tournament.
Fifth-seeded GSU knocked off No. 4 seed UNC Greensboro in an 81-64 win Thursday, and the Eagles carried that same enthusiasm into Friday. They started strong but had no answer for the Lady Catamounts’ depth as Western held a 42-4 advantage in bench points. WCU also attempted 17 more free throws, making 38 trips to the line to the Eagles’ 11.
The Eagles end their season at 13-18 while Western (23-8) advances to today’s championship game for the third time in four years and will face No. 2 Chattanooga. The No. 1 seed has earned a spot in the title game six of the last seven years.
“When you are outscored 42-2 there’s just no answer for that,” said Eagle coach Rusty Cram, whose team doesn’t have any seniors. “To me, the youth showed more today than it did yesterday. I think we were caught up in the emotion, the momentum, the motivation — everything that’s involved. The team that wins this tournament is the team that has depth nine out of 10 times. Who do you try to stop with them? Every one of them could beat you. They are just a well-put-together ball club, well-coached.”
Western’s Ashley Pellom finished with a career and game-high 21 points off the bench, fellow backup Brooke Johnson added 16 and Jessika Johnson scored 11.
Georgia Southern placed four in double figures led by Tiffany Brown with 18 while Chequilla Jessie added 12 and Carolyn Whitney and Ashley Rivens had 11 apiece.
The Eagles came out strong, opening the game with a 12-4 run and stretching their lead to nine on a Whitney 3 from the right wing 4:05 before the half. The Catamounts attempted 20 shots in the first half to GSU’s 41 but kept things close by hitting free throws when the Eagle defense was limiting their looks. Western attempted 20 first-half free throws to GSU’s three.
“(WCU) coach Kellie (Harper) did a great job of getting to the free-throw line,” Cram said. “Things seemed to be going their way. They were getting calls, so she ran with it. My hat’s off to her — she knew it, felt it. They got us down on the blocks, did what they had to do and got to the free-throw line — that’s great coaching as far as I am concerned. Thirty eight free throws to 11 — that’s just remarkable this time of year. I’m still in shock. ”
GSU led the entire first period until Johnson hit a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left on the clock to put Western up 31-29. Brown answered with a 3 from the top of the key give GSU a 32-31 advantage at the half.
The Catamounts then used a 13-2 run to pull away early in the second half and later scored six straight to go up by 10 with 10:40 remaining. The Eagles responded with seven unanswered points to cut the lead to three after a Jessie free throw with almost seven minutes to play. But Western closed the game on a 15-4 run with seven points coming on free throws.
“For us, it was not a pretty game,” Harper said. “But we credit Georgia Southern for that game plan. They are a tough opponent right now. My gosh, they finished the season playing as good as anybody in the conference.”
The Eagles sputtered in the second half, but Brown said fatigue wasn’t a factor.
“We just couldn’t stop them from penetrating, which we knew they were going to do when they came in to go get fouls,” she said.
GSU junior Shawnda Atwood was quiet, shooting an uncharacteristic 1-for-12 from the field and finishing with three points.
“She was just pressing too hard,” Cram said. “No question she’s been that player for us all year that we rally around. She was frustrated — she’s probably more frustrated than anybody in this gym.”
Cram was pleased with his team’s effort in the tournament after ending an up-and-down season as the league’s fifth seed.
“We could have packed up and gone home yesterday,” he said. “But to think that we are here in the semifinals with a very young ball club and what they’ve been through — what an experience for these young kids. I feel like we are peaking at the right time, we just came up a little bit short.
“I’m just as proud of this team as I can be. They fought all year, through a lot of adversity again, and showed a lot of class, a lot of fight.”
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
Top-seeded Western Carolina used its depth and ability to get to the free-throw line to end Georgia Southern’s season Friday, sending the Lady Eagles home with a 73-59 loss in the Southern Conference tournament.
Fifth-seeded GSU knocked off No. 4 seed UNC Greensboro in an 81-64 win Thursday, and the Eagles carried that same enthusiasm into Friday. They started strong but had no answer for the Lady Catamounts’ depth as Western held a 42-4 advantage in bench points. WCU also attempted 17 more free throws, making 38 trips to the line to the Eagles’ 11.
The Eagles end their season at 13-18 while Western (23-8) advances to today’s championship game for the third time in four years and will face No. 2 Chattanooga. The No. 1 seed has earned a spot in the title game six of the last seven years.
“When you are outscored 42-2 there’s just no answer for that,” said Eagle coach Rusty Cram, whose team doesn’t have any seniors. “To me, the youth showed more today than it did yesterday. I think we were caught up in the emotion, the momentum, the motivation — everything that’s involved. The team that wins this tournament is the team that has depth nine out of 10 times. Who do you try to stop with them? Every one of them could beat you. They are just a well-put-together ball club, well-coached.”
Western’s Ashley Pellom finished with a career and game-high 21 points off the bench, fellow backup Brooke Johnson added 16 and Jessika Johnson scored 11.
Georgia Southern placed four in double figures led by Tiffany Brown with 18 while Chequilla Jessie added 12 and Carolyn Whitney and Ashley Rivens had 11 apiece.
The Eagles came out strong, opening the game with a 12-4 run and stretching their lead to nine on a Whitney 3 from the right wing 4:05 before the half. The Catamounts attempted 20 shots in the first half to GSU’s 41 but kept things close by hitting free throws when the Eagle defense was limiting their looks. Western attempted 20 first-half free throws to GSU’s three.
“(WCU) coach Kellie (Harper) did a great job of getting to the free-throw line,” Cram said. “Things seemed to be going their way. They were getting calls, so she ran with it. My hat’s off to her — she knew it, felt it. They got us down on the blocks, did what they had to do and got to the free-throw line — that’s great coaching as far as I am concerned. Thirty eight free throws to 11 — that’s just remarkable this time of year. I’m still in shock. ”
GSU led the entire first period until Johnson hit a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left on the clock to put Western up 31-29. Brown answered with a 3 from the top of the key give GSU a 32-31 advantage at the half.
The Catamounts then used a 13-2 run to pull away early in the second half and later scored six straight to go up by 10 with 10:40 remaining. The Eagles responded with seven unanswered points to cut the lead to three after a Jessie free throw with almost seven minutes to play. But Western closed the game on a 15-4 run with seven points coming on free throws.
“For us, it was not a pretty game,” Harper said. “But we credit Georgia Southern for that game plan. They are a tough opponent right now. My gosh, they finished the season playing as good as anybody in the conference.”
The Eagles sputtered in the second half, but Brown said fatigue wasn’t a factor.
“We just couldn’t stop them from penetrating, which we knew they were going to do when they came in to go get fouls,” she said.
GSU junior Shawnda Atwood was quiet, shooting an uncharacteristic 1-for-12 from the field and finishing with three points.
“She was just pressing too hard,” Cram said. “No question she’s been that player for us all year that we rally around. She was frustrated — she’s probably more frustrated than anybody in this gym.”
Cram was pleased with his team’s effort in the tournament after ending an up-and-down season as the league’s fifth seed.
“We could have packed up and gone home yesterday,” he said. “But to think that we are here in the semifinals with a very young ball club and what they’ve been through — what an experience for these young kids. I feel like we are peaking at the right time, we just came up a little bit short.
“I’m just as proud of this team as I can be. They fought all year, through a lot of adversity again, and showed a lot of class, a lot of fight.”
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
