INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (Women's Basketball) – The Shawnee State women's basketball team saw its season come to an end Friday afternoon, as the Bears fell, 87-68, at the hands of No. 2 Oklahoma City University in the second round of the quarterfinal round of the NAIA Division I National Championship at the Independence Events Center.
The Bears got double-figures from three players – including 20 from both Abby Feuchter (JR/Cincinnati, Ohio) and Ashley McMurtrey (FR/Louisville, Ky.) – but were unable to overcome 24 turnovers and an 11-point halftime deficit, despite a furious rally in the second half.
SSU trailed by as many as 22 early in the second half, Oklahoma City surged out to a 16-3 run following a bucket from the Bears to open the frame. When a steal from Cetoria Petties turned into an easy bucket for Marisha Wallace, the Stars enjoyed a 58-36 lead with 15:39 to play.
Over the next five minutes Shawnee State would climb back into it. McMurtrey stopped the bleeding with a triple and Feuchter followed with a pair of triples back-to-back, cutting it to a 13-point game. McMurtrey cut it to 11 with 11:13 to play on an old-fashioned three-point play.
On the next two OCU possessions, turnovers turned into a pair of back-to-back buckets from Shavon Robinson (SR/Canton, Ohio) and the Bears were down, 59-52, with just over ten minutes to play, capping a 16-1 surge by SSU in just under five minutes.
Following a timeout from the Stars, OCU got things back under control with a three pointer from Rateska Brown off a Bears' turnover. In total, the Stars scored 34 points off turnovers. Oklahoma City also grabbed 19 offensive rebounds – taking advantage of a significant size advantage – which led to 21 second chance points.
The Brown three-pointer would prove the last time SSU would cut the deficit to under 10. The Stars led by double-figures the rest of the way. Yvonte Neal led the way for OCU with 28 points. A pair of 6-2 centers each scored in double figures as well, as Wallace added 16 and Ouleymatou Coulibaly scored 12.
Shawnee State led just once in the game, coing at the 7:03 mark in the first half, when Feuchter finished on a steal-and-score to make it 24-23 in favor of the Bears. SSU had trailed by as many as nine early, but stayed tight in the first half thanks to Mid-South Conference Player of the Year Ali Zieverink (JR/West Chester, Ohio).
The junior scored 15 points, including 13 in the first period. Oklahoma City had no answer for Zieverink, who went 6-of-12 from the field and grabbed five rebounds. Tabby McKinney (SR/Canton, Ohio) was a big presence on the glass for Shawnee State, collecting a game-high 10 rebounds.
Despite taking the lead at the seven-minute mark, Shawnee State surrendered a 10-1 run over the final 3:59 to send the squad into the locker room trailing 42-31.
Shawnee State shot 43.4 percent from the field on 23-of-53 shooting, but the 24 turnovers allowed the Stars to get 76 attempts at the bucket. OCU connected on 33 of those attempts, also shooting 43.4 percent. The Stars won the rebounding battle 44-37.
The loss marks the end of the 2014-15 campaign for the Bears, who finish the season with a record of 25-10. This marks the 16th time the women's basketball team has won at least 25 games in a season. Zieverink marks the second-straight Mid-South Player of the Year award-winner for SSU and just the seventh in any conference in program history.
The end of the year marks the final game in uniform for five seniors – Shavon Robinson, Erin Dailey (SR/Kingston, Ohio), Tabby McKinney, Rachael Young (SR/Franklin, Ohio) and Rebecca Bruner (SR/Springfield, Ohio).
