The Atlantic 10 women’s basketball tournament was predominantly controlled by the top seeds in the conference. Only two games were won by higher seeds in the tournament. No. 3 Xavier was led by freshman star Ta’Shia Phillips and received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after defeating Temple last night in the A-10 finals. It was the Musketeers second straight A-10 Championship.

Finals

Xavier (24-8, 12-2) faced off against top-seeded Temple (21-12, 12-2) last night to conclude this years women’s A-10 Basketball Tournament.

Temple led at the half, 24-21, over the Musketeers. Xavier came back to outscore the Owls 26-18 in the second half, and sealed the game at the free-throw line with eight seconds remaining to extend its lead to a two-possession game.

Phillips, the Musketeers center, finished the tournament off strong with another double-double to bolster her already fantastic season. She was accompanied by the presence of Amber Harris and Jerri Taylor who scored 14 and 12 points, respectively.

The Owls struggled offensively, with freshmen Shanea Cotton and Ashley Morris leading the scoring production with a combined 22 points. The team had a combined three-point field goal percentage of 15.8 percent, shooting only 3-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Semifinal key match

Defending A-10 champions Xavier faced off against second-seeded George Washington (25-6, 12-2). This semi-final matchup was played down to the final seconds, before Xavier was able to pull through with the victory. Kimberly Beck, A-10 Conference Player of the Year, scored eight points and dished out seven assists but it wasn’t enough to push the Colonials onto the finals of the tournament.

Phillips continued her outstanding play throughout the year with another clutch effort, scoring 22 points and pulling down nine rebounds. On the season, she won 11 Rookie of the Week honors and averaged a double-double.

“It was definitely the hardest-fought game of my career,” Phillips said after the game. “High intense rebounds, hard hits and fouls, but sometimes you’ve got to suck it up and do what you have to do.”

Sophomore Amber Harris also had a great showing for Xavier, assisting Phillips’ performance with 15 points and eight rebounds of her own.

Quarterfinal key match

Temple squared off against Richmond (6-8, 14-17). After an impressive first-round performance with the leadership of freshman Brittani Shells, Richmond came close to giving top seed Temple an early scare in the tournament. The Owls prevailed with a 70-62 victory.

The game began late after a delay caused by a leak in the roof of the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. The delay did not slow Cotton and Temple, who cruised to a first-half lead of 36-21.

“We were ready to play the game and the adrenaline came from finally getting to play. We were ready to compete in any conditions,” Temple coach Dawn Staley said after the game.

The Spiders came storming into the second half with an 18-4 run, cutting the Owls’ lead to 44-39 with 13:03 remaining. With the help of Morris putting up 19 points, seven assists and five rebounds, Temple held off the Richmond threat.

On the other side of the ball, another great performance from Shell was not enough to overcome the Owls. She scored 18 points and had four rebounds.

“I knew what I had to do to prepare myself for today’s game and I always felt like I could play with Temple,” Shells said after the game. “It’s definitely going to prepare me for next season.”

First round key match

Richmond and Duquesne (6-8, 15-15) kicked off the tournament with a closely contested game in which Richmond won, 58-56, to advance to the quarterfinals.

Shells led Richmond with a team high 19 points in the victory. After leading by as many as 10 points, Richmond allowed Duquesne to cut into the deficit with 2:30 left in the game, cutting the Spiders lead to 52-51.

The Dukes later tied the game on a three-point jumper from junior Kristi Little with only 30 seconds left in the contest.

“I was nervous after she hit that shot. I knew we needed to do something,” Shells said after the game.

After a timeout allowed Richmond to regroup, Shells answered the need for a response and was able to seal the game with a jumper.

Despite the loss, Dukes coach Suzie McConnel-Serio was proud of her teams’ effort.

“I am so proud of the team and how far they have come,” she said. “They never quit, even when we were down by 10. They continued to fight until the end.”

Shells and freshman teammate Crystal Goring were the story of the game. Along with her 19 points, Shells also grabbed eight boards and had two assists. Goring recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 rebounds to go along with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting.

Oliver Gasior can be reached at [email protected].