One Tick too Late for Tigers as Tournament Hopes End
ORANGE, Calif. (March 4, 2009) – It was a packed house at the Hutton Sports Center tonight and the home-court advantage, on the road, that the Tigers brought to Orange ended with heartbreak after Brianne Brown seemingly hit a game-winning three-pointer, but the referee’s quickly signaled no shot, sending the game into overtime.
During the extra five minute period Chapman challenged the Tigers, sending Occidental back to Eagle Rock with a 70-65 loss in their first NCAA Division III tournament appearance.
As anticipated Chapman’s defense was tough, forcing 23 Tigers turnovers, which they converted into 25 points. Another area that haunted Occidental tonight was second chance points as the Panthers poured in 18 off of 15 offensive rebounds. Oxy managed to grab 14 offensive boards, but scored just eight points. Missed free-throws down the stretch were also a thorn in the side of the Tigers.
The Panthers won the tip-off, but Oxy forced a quick turnover, and a steal by Brianne Brown ended in a break-away layup to start off the scoring. With the score tied at 10 the defensive battle ensued with neither team scoring for three minutes. Stephanie Babij broke that scoreless streak, but Chapman quickly re-took the lead at 15-14 when Lauren Kamiyami stole the ball from the Tigers and Mary Petrie hit a three-pointer. CU then used a 15-3 run to open up an 11-point advantage.
Gillian Nugent and Zoe Walsh hit back-to-back three-pointers and the Tigers eventually pulled within a point with 2:41 to play in the opening frame. Down by three an Oxy turnover ended up hurting as Kamiyama, who scored 11 first half points, hit a shot from long range to put the Panthers up at the break.
Although the Tigers shot 44% from the field in the opening stanza, they trailed by six at the intermission with Chapman ahead 35-29. The Panthers pulled down 22 rebounds with eight on the offensive end of the court and forced 12 Tigers turnovers, which proved instrumental in the way the first half panned out.
Early in the second half the teams exchanged buckets but Chapman maintained a lead. Oxy tied things up at 46-46 on a jumper by Dior Williams and again moments later on a pair of free-throws from Brown, who finished 8-for-10 from the charity stripe.
Chapman (20-8) held a six point lead with 4:37 to play, but the Tigers continued to chip away and Williams sank the front end of two free-throws to knot things up again with 1:13 remaining in regulation. Occidental forced a pair of Panthers’ turnovers and missed a couple of opportunities down the stretch sending the game into overtime as Brown’s shot from beyond the arc was released just a second too late.
Occidental (22-6) shot just 1-for-9 from the field in overtime, while Chapman was 3-for-6. Overall the Tigers made just 63% of their free throws (17-for-27), which was the difference in the game. Chapman was 11-for-17 from the free-throw line.
In the second half, though, Oxy shot 47.6% from the field and held the Panthers to just 32.1%, “winning” the 20-minute period 32-26.
The Tigers were paced by Brown who finished her final collegiate game with 21 points, adding seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Babij recorded a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double and Williams also finished in double figures with 12 points. Asha Jordan, who also played in her final game wearing black and orange, finished with 10 rebounds and five points.
Kamiyama led all players with 24 points and four steals while Linda Ly chipped in with 13 points for the Panthers.
Chapman will head to Newberg, Ore. to face the No. 2 George Fox (27-0) Bruins on Saturday night while the Tigers will hang up their sneakers and uniforms for the final time in 2009.
The experience of the playoffs will surely stick with the Tigers, though, and they will refocus and begin preparing for the opportunity to represent the SCIAC again in the future.
