For the second consecutive contest, the women's basketball program at Shawnee State put together a strong defensive effort over the Thomas More women's basketball program by holding the Saints, who shot 42.7 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three-point range, to just 30.6 percent shooting from the floor and 19.2 percent from three-point range while owning a plus-10 rebounding advantage (54-44) to keep Thomas More on their heels in a Mid-South Conference Semifinal matchup.
However, despite using their defensive play to collect a 13-8 advantage early on, SSU couldn't hold the point as a 32-16 spurt by Thomas More over a 17-minute span between the second and third frames of play proved to be costly in a 57-47 defensive slugfest that went the way of the Saints Monday afternoon in Bowling Green.
Shawnee State, who held Cumberlands (Ky.) to just one assist and forced the Patriots to shoot 29.2 percent from the field, enjoyed similar defensive success against Thomas More as the Bears held the Saints to just one field goal over the final 7:45 of the opening quarter in a spirited display that saw the same, trademark Shawnee State effort come out as was evident against Cumberlands (Ky.).
On the offensive end of the coin in the opening quarter, Anyia Pride proved to be hard to stop as the junior from Cincinnati scored seven points in the opening frame to lead the Bears to an 11-8 lead at the end of the frame.
However, following a bucket by Brandie Snow that pushed the Shawnee State to 13-8 with 9:46 to play in the second quarter, Thomas More began to open up the floor slowly, but surely. Three-point field goals by Taylor Clos, Emily Simon and Briana McNutt ultimately proved to be the difference in the second frame as a five-point SSU advantage turned into a four-point deficit, 25-21, at the halftime break.
Despite this, Pride and Abbie Kallner helped work Shawnee State right back to within one possession.
Trailing by a 27-21 margin following two free throws from Simon, Pride got to the charity stripe and knocked down a pair of free throws while Kallner connected on a bucket from inside the line to bring the Bears back within two, 27-25, with 7:57 to go in the third quarter.
With the contest being anybody's ballgame at that point, it was Thomas More who took control.
Over a span of 5:03, Shawnee State was only able to convert a pair of field goals -- both from Pride -- as a 13-4 push capped off the larger 32-16 spurt previously mentioned and gave Thomas More a 40-29 advantage as a result. During that span of 5:03, McNutt and Courtney Hurst combined for 11 of the 13 tallies, with seven coming from McNutt alone in the push that ultimately proved to be game-changing.
On two separate occasions in the fourth quarter, the Bears cut the gap to as little as seven -- the last on an and-one by Pride with 1:24 to play that cut the Thomas More lead to a 54-47 margin. However, Shawnee State was not able to get closer in the 10-point setback.
For the contest, Pride's 20 points and seven rebounds, along with Roney's 16 rebounds and 11 points, led the Shawnee State effort. Marnae Holland added 10 rebounds off of the bench for the Bears.
NEXT UP:
Shawnee State (18-8) will await its tournament outlook over the next three days. The brackets will be unveiled Wednesday, March 4 with more information to come on www.ssubears.com, on Twitter @SSUBears and on Facebook at Shawnee State Athletics.
For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, visit www.ssubears.com or visit the Twitter and Facebook pages at https://twitter.com/SSUBears and https://www.facebook.com/SSUBears. For more information on how to join the SSU Bear Club or for sponsorship of specific SSU players or events, visit https://givetossu.com/bear-club and https://givetossu.com/sponsorthebears.
