LEBANON, Tenn. – Fourth-seeded and NAIA No. 25 Shawnee State women's basketball moved to a perfect 4-0 all-time in Mid-South Conference quarterfinals games with a 69-65 victory against fifth-seeded Lindsey Wilson Friday evening. The win was also the ninth a row for the Bears (19-11) who have not lost since the end of January. The victory also gave the rubber match in the series to SSU as the Bears and Blue Raiders (19-12) split the two regular season contests.
With the victory, Shawnee State now advances to Saturday's semifinal round against top-seeded and NAIA No. 4 Campbellsville (28-3). The Tigers were a 63-54 winner against Bluefield to start the women's tournament. The Bears' semifinal game against Campbellsville will tip at 7 p.m. EST (6 p.m. CST). Just like the regular season series against Lindsey Wilson, these two teams also split the contests with both sides winning on the other's home court. Shawnee State is 2-1 all-time in MSC semifinal games with the lone loss coming last season on a jumper in the final seconds.
The Bears trio of first-team All-MSC selections led them to victory as each scored in double figures. MSC Player of the Year Alannah Sheets (SR, Leon, W. Va.) scored a team-high 19 points in the win. Priscila Santos (SR, Sao Paulo, Brazil) added 18 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Diane Abbady (SR, Ivory Coast, West Africa) recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Lindsey Wilson was led by Chanel Roberts' 22 points. Cassidy Martin also added 12 points off the bench for the Blue Raiders.
After a fairly even opening five minutes, SSU held the Blue Raiders scoreless for a stretch of 3:02, which was just long enough to build a 16-9 edge with 12 minutes left in the half. Shawnee State led by as many as 12 points in the opening half after a jumper in the paint from Abbady gave her side a 26-14 advantage with 9:08 left in the half.
Lindsey Wilson began to make its charge towards the end of the first half and trailed by seven, 32-25, after the opening 20 minutes. The Blue Raiders continued that rally in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring 11 of the first 15 points that half, tying the game at 36-all with 16:25 left in regulation.
After the third tie score of the second half, 40-40, with 12:53 left in the contest, Shawnee State stretched its lead back to seven points, 54-47, with 8:03 left on the clock. However, the Blue Raiders climbed right back in the game with a 7-0 run to knot the score at 54-54 with 5:59 left on the game clock.
Santos and Abbady would answer that run by the Blue Raiders with back-to-back scoring possessions and Shawnee State would not trail for the remainder of the contest. The Bears' largest lead down the stretch came after a nice pass from Abby Feuchter (SO, Cincinnati, Ohio) to Abbady in the paint for the two more points, giving Shawnee State a 66-58 edge with 1:14 to play.
A pair of threes from the Blue Raiders in the final 30 seconds got LWC within two points, 67-65, with 3.6 seconds to play. However, Feuchter was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and knocked down both of her free throw attempts to finally put the game out of reach.
Both teams went an identical 24-of-67 from the floor. Lindsey Wilson had the upper hand in 3-point shooting in more than double the chances, going 7-of-24 from 3-point land, compared to just 2-of-11 for the Bears. Shawnee State held the edge at the free throw line, converting 19-of-29. Lindsey Wilson only made 17 trips to the foul line, scoring 10 points at the charity stripe. Shawnee State also held a 54-42 edge in rebounding as every player who saw playing time for the Bears pulled down at least one rebound. Six different SSU players had at least four rebounds.
Saturday's game against Campbellsville will once again be streamed online courtesy of Cumberland University. You can also follow live video and live stats through the tournament home page linked below.
Tournament Home Page
Live Video, Audio and Stats
