What ever happened to southern hospitality?
The Massachusetts women’s basketball team (1-7) found no cure for its disease during this weekend’s trip South to Memphis and Arkansas-Little Rock.
A 16-8 run to start the second half and 30 trips to the free throw line propelled Memphis to a comeback victory over the Minutewomen Sunday afternoon.
“A win is a win,” Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. “It wasn’t a pretty win, but it has been a long time since we were able to pick up a victory. We really needed this to boost our confidence a bit. UMass is a good team, and they have some big players. I think we got a little intimidated by their size early on.”
After holding a three-point, 28-25 lead at the half, the Maroon and White fell to the Lady Tigers, 67-56. Junior Jen Butler led the way in the first half, scoring seven points and tallying three steals.
The shooting, rebounding and turnovers were relatively even in the contest. The advantage for the Dixieland squad was that its players took 22 more free throw attempts than the opposition. In games that close throughout, those extra shots make all the difference.
Memphis’ Victoria Crawford shot 13-for-15 from the charity stripe and was the game’s high-scorer with 19. But it was her teammate, Princess Swilley who set the tone for the Lady Tigers. The sophomore scored 18 points, hauled down six rebounds (all offensive), and dished out three assists in the win.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Memphis while extending UMass’ own streak to four games, its longest of the season.
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The Minutewomen haven’t been having any luck in overtime this year. Friday marked the third time in eight games that the team has ventured into overtime, and it has lost each one.
Arkansas-Little Rock’s phenomenal freshman, Darci Cassidy, scored 24 points (10 in the extra frame) to lead the Trojans to a 70-65 victory over the Maroon and White.
A three-pointer by Ebony Pegues with two seconds remaining in regulation forced the overtime period. The trey was Pegues’ second game-tying buzzer beater of the season. The junior went coast-to-coast to score a floater that sent the Nov. 23 Rice game into overtime. That contest went three extra periods before Rice finally prevailed.
Junior Siiri Liivandi put the Maroon and White up by two early in overtime, but a Cassidy three sparked an 8-0 run by the Trojans. Cassidy scored all but one of Arkansas’ points in OT.
Pegues scored a career-high 19 points on the night by taking the term “shooting guard” literally. The Columbus, Ohio native took twice as many shots from the field (23) as any other player on both teams. Pegues also grabbed five rebounds and committed five turnovers.
Sophomore Paige Harris scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in just seven minutes of play. All of No. 11’s field goal attempts (2-for-5) were from beyond the three-point line, including one with just four seconds left in the first half to send the Maroon and White into the locker room with a 33-32 lead.
Liivandi and freshman Katie Nelson each scored 10 points in the effort. Nelson played 40 of the contest’s 45 minutes and shot 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.
The Minutewomen’s free throw woes continued Friday. Butler and Liivandi shot a combined 4-for-15 from the line. The Trojans’ free throw percentage (77.8) was exactly two times better than UMass’ (38.9).
