FRANKFORT, Ky. –Women's basketball upended No. 2 seed Oklahoma Baptist (28-6, No. 6 in NAIA) in the opening round of the NAIA Tournament behind 45 points from senior Alannah Sheets. The Bears needed every one of those points as they prevailed in overtime by a 94-91 margin. In the process, the Bears (20-12, ranked No. 25 in NAIA) advanced to the second round of the NAIA Championships for the sixth straight year while improving to 15-4 all-time in NAIA first round games.
Shawnee State will be back on the court Friday at 4:30 p.m. against Wiley (Texas). Wiley was a 74-72 winner against Mobile (Ala.) in its opening round game today. That meeting will be the first in program history between the two schools.
Sheets' 45 points tied her career high which she also scored in overtime game against Rio Grande earlier this season. Her point total was the most in an NAIA Opening Round since the 1993 NAIA Championships. The last time a player went for 40 or more points in the NAIA Tournament came during the 2010 Quarterfinals when Campbellsville's Whitney Ballinger scored 48 points in an overtime contest. Sheets' scoring total also broke the school record for a Shawnee State individual in any NAIA game.
In addition to Sheets, Priscila Santos scored 28 points. This total came a year after she scored 37 points in the opening round as she led William woods to an upset victory just one year ago. Abby Feuchter also added nine points in the victory, while Diane Abbady pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with six points.
The Bears got off to a quick start right from the opening tip with a red-hot start shooting the ball. SSU would get five points from Sheets in the opening two minutes, scoring the first eight points of the game as a team. A three from Feuchter gave the Bears a 13-4 lead. Oklahoma Baptist brought the game back within three points, 17-14, but the Bears then went to Santos who did not miss any of her first six shots from the field. With her hot hand, the Bears ran off nine straight points and led by as many as 14 points, 28-14, with 9:31 to play in the half.
Shawnee State would not let that lead slip under 10 points until the closing minutes of the opening half. Another basket matched the Bears' largest lead of the half when a jumper from Santos gave the Bears a 35-21 lead with just over six minutes to play. Oklahoma Baptist got the deficit down to as few as four points with under a minute to play in the opening half, but a three from Feuchter in the Bears' final possession gave them a 44-37 lead at the half.
Tabby McKinney scored two points right out of the gates in the second half with a quick basket to stretch the Bears' lead to nine. Oklahoma Baptist kept clawing back into the game in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Typically hanging back by anywhere from four to seven points, the Bison finally tied the game at 62-all with 10:35 to play.
However, Abbady would answer that rally with a basket of her own to put her team back up on top. The Bison tied the game for the second time at 64-all. Despite being tied after leading the whole way, the Bears still did not find themselves down until a 3-pointer from the Bisons' Elisabeth Daniels made the score 67-65 with 9:07 to play.
After leading for the 30-plus consecutive minutes, the Bears found themselves trading the lead on the next two possessions. Down by as many as five points, 77-72 with 6:05 left in the game, Shawnee State went on a 6-0 run fueled by Sheets and Santos to go up 78-77 with 4:48 to play.
The two sides would trade the lead three times in the back-and-forth spurt over the next two minutes but were ultimately deadlocked at 83-all with just over two minutes to play. After getting a pair of defensive stops, Sheets got back to the line. She hit both of those to put her team up 85-83, but again Oklahoma Baptist answered to knot the score at 85. With the chance for the win, the Bears turned the ball over with 25 seconds to play. The Bison called timeout with the ball but the Bears held as an Oklahoma Baptist 3-pointer from the top of the arc bounced off the rim and forced another five minutes to decide the winner.
In the overtime session, Santos converted an old fashioned 3-point play in the opening seconds, but the Bison responded with the next four points to hold an 89-88 edge with under three minutes to play. Once again, the Bears went back to Sheets as she got back to the charity stripe and knocked down two more free throws to give the Bears the lead, 90-89, with two minutes to play.
Shawnee State forced another defensive stop and Santos would gather the defensive rebound. She was fouled on the ensuing possession and hit a pair of free throws from the line, putting the Bears up by three points with 1:22 to play.
On the next defensive stand, Abbady appeared to make a huge defensive stop that could have potentially clinched the game. With four fouls against her, Abbady held her ground on the defensive end and drew a charge that gave her team the ball with the lead and just over a minute to play.
This time, it was Oklahoma Baptist's turn to come up with the defensive stop as the Bison forced an SSU turnover and translated that into two points on the offensive end. The Bison also drew the contact on the shot but were unable to convert and trailed 92-91 with 33 seconds to play.
With the time winding down, it was only fitting that Sheets went back to the line to put the final two points on the board for her team. She would sink both free throws, finishing 16-of22 from the line in the game. The Bison would get a rushed three with time running down that did not fall as the Bears prevailed with the 94-91 victory.
NOTES: Today's win was also the first NAIA postseason win for Head Coach Jeff Nickel in his first appearance … The Bears are now 15-4 all-time in NAIA Opening Round games, including a perfect 4-0 at the Division I level … This year's senior class is the third straight senior class to advance to the NAIA Second Round in each of their four seasons … In total, eight senior classes at Shawnee State have advanced to NAIA Second Round in all four years (1997-01, 12-14) … Shawnee State is now 28-15 all-time in NAIA games … The Bears are 7-5 all-time when they are the underdogs according to tournament seeds, including a 5-2 record at the Division I level … The Bears have been underdogs in three of their four opening round wins at the Division I level … Shawnee State's 94 points was the second-most in the NAIA Tournament … The 1999 National Championship team scored 95 points in its win against Castleton State in the opening round game … With today's win, the Bears have now won 20 or more games in 24 of their 26 seasons at the NAIA level.
