FRANKFORT, Ky. – A running jumper by Cumberland's Briannica Tye with just five seconds left in regulation denied women's basketball the upset bid over the top-seeded Bulldogs (29-2), 60-59. In the rematch of the NAIA Game of the Week, the Bears (23-9) were also denied a third consecutive trip to the MSC Conference Championship Game.
The Bears led for large chunks of time and were winning right before that game-winning shot thanks in large part to a double-double from Schera Sampson who finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Alannah Sheets also finished with 11 points while Alex Pohl had 10 in the MSC seminfinal game. Tye's game-winning points were two of her 14. The Bulldogs were led by Jessica Pace's 16. Yalonda Davis also finished with 12 points.
Against their top-seeded foes, the Bears went to work down low right out of the gates and built an 8-2 lead in the opening six minutes. SSU grew its lead to eight, 14-6, after Sampson stepped back for a three which forced the Bulldogs to take a timeout. The timeout appeared to be effective early on as the Bulldogs responded with a quick 5-0 run to get the game to 14-11 with 10:02 left in the opening half.
However, the Bears ramped up the defensive pressure and did not allow a Bulldogs' basket for the next 4:12 as they went on a 10-0 run that saw four different players score during that stretch. That team effort helped the Bears build the lead up to a game-high 13 points, 24-11, with 5:50 to play in the opening half.
Cumberland would quickly work themselves back into the game as it broke out of the offensive slump with a three followed by the three-point play following an and-one which sparked a 16-3 run that saw the scored get tied up at 27-all with 2:03 left in the opening half. The Bears would however take the lead into the half as Desirai Smith hit a three with just five seconds to go in the first and the Bears took a 30-27 lead into the locker rooms.
The Bulldogs took the lead for the first time in the game since the opening basket by scoring 14 of the first 18 points in the opening four minutes of the second half, taking a 41-34 lead with 16 minutes to play. With Cumberland holding a 45-36 lead with 14:47 to play, the Bears went on an 8-0 run that got them to within two, 45-43, with 12:56 to play
The two teams would eventually end up tied at three different points in the final nine minutes of play. The final tie came at 52-all with 5:32 to play. Shortly thereafter, Abby Feuchter gave the Bears a lead that they would hold up until the final moments with a three. Sampson then added a basket to put SSU up by five, 57-52, with just over four minutes to play.
The Bulldogs got to the free throw line on each of their next three possessions and made 4-of-6 from the line to get within a point, 57-56, with two minutes remaining. Sampson would answer that with a pair of free throws of her own which was matched by a Cumberland layup by Pace as the Bears led 59-58 with just over a minute to go.
Shawnee State called timeout with 50 seconds left on the clock but they could not execute. With 39 seconds left, the Bulldogs came down with the defensive rebound. With 14 seconds remaining, Cumberland called for the timeout which led into the game-winning shot from Tye.
The Bears did not call timeout as they worked it up court and had it to Sampson at the top of the three-point line but she was tied up and could not get the shot off before the final buzzer sounded.
Shawnee State went 22-of-50 (44%) from the field and finished with a better shooting percentage than Cumberland who shot 31.3-percent (21-of-67) from the field and even made more threes (6-of-14) than the Bulldogs (3-of-18) but were hampered by 20 turnovers compared to just 10 from Cumberland.
The Bears will now have to await their at-large bid fate for the NAIA Tournament. The selection show to the NAIA Tournament will be next Wednesday, March 6.
