2008 Woodie Awards
Skyhawk women bounce away in semifinal loss to Lady Racers
Brad Hurt
Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 3 next >
|
On Friday afternoon at the Gaylord Entertainment Center with a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship game on the line, the Skyhawks' Crystal Fuller experienced the loneliest feeling in the world when her free throws glanced off the rim to allow Murray State to escape with a 66-65 overtime victory.
The errant shots concluded an exciting final two minutes of the extra period that saw the Lady Racers erase a four-point deficit and seize control of the game. Kim Cox took over for the Skyhawks on offense, scoring four points of her own to build a cushion for her team.
On the other end of the floor, the Lady Racers struggled against the Skyhawks' feisty defense.
With 2:25 remaining in regulation, Jennifer Angler nailed an off-balance three-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Skyhawks a 54-53 lead.
The Racers then got a three-point play from guard Amber Guffey with one minute showing on the clock to steal the lead. A humble Guffey had little to say about her critical shot after the game.
"I just hit it," she said.
Guffey's coach shed a little more light on the game's hero.
"Amber is very talented offensively although we have to beg her to shoot," said Lady Racers coach Joi Felton.
Skyhawk head coach Tara Tansil had her own praise for Guffey following the game.
"Guffey was aggressive offensively. We didn't expect her to shoot the ball as much as she did," she said.
Guffey finished the game with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting in 40 minutes of action.
After pulling off an upset of No. 3 seed Morehead State in the opening round of the tournament on Tuesday, the No. 6 seed Skyhawks put a good scare into the tournament's No. 2 seed.
At the start of the game the Skyhawks seemed rattled and the Racers pounced on the opportunity to create a sizeable advantage. By forcing turnovers and using their transition game to impose their up-tempo style on the Skyhawks, the Racers got the Skyhawks right where they wanted them.
Be the first to comment on this story