The Lady Raiders’ quest for a third-straight Sun Belt Tournament title came to an end Sunday afternoon, but the team did win the East division of the Sun Belt Confernce. MT Athletics
|
|
|
MTSU's Lady Raiders, coaches and fans didn't have quite enough Sunday to overcome the tragic loss of teammate and friend Tina Stewart and Arkansas State at the same time.
Grief is a heavy load to carry, but the team and coaches, with courage that I can only imagine, reported for the noon game versus Arkansas State (18-13) in the Summit in Hot Springs Ark. With Tina's No. 20 uniform on a empty chair on the bench and after a Sun Belt moment of silence, the game began.
The first ten minutes likely decided the game as Arkansas State got off to a great start heading toward the eventual 77-62 victory. The Lady Raider defensive energy just wasn't there, and the Blue was held to three field goals in the first 11 minutes and quickly fell behind 27-10.
As they always do when challenged, the Lady Raiders fought back and pulled within six points (34-28) at the half and carried the comeback into the second half finally tying the game at 37, 39 and 42 and, after falling behind again, fought back to trail by only two, 57-55. At that point, Arkansas State claimed the game by out scoring the Lady Raiders 11-2 over a four-minute stretch. MT never got a lead and was visibly drained at the end.
Shania Hurst led all scorers with 21 points for AS.
Ebony Rowe had 19 for Middle while Icelyn Elie had 14, Kortnie Jones had 9 and Jordan Luffman had 6. Anne Marie Lanning had her brilliant Sun Belt career end with 14.
Middle won the rebound battle 33-32 but trailed in the shooting department hitting only 24 of 60 (5 of 21 in threes), 40 percent, while Arkansas State was hot hitting 27 of 50 (54 percent).
The large blue clad crowd gave the squad standing ovations numerous times as the game headed toward a sorrowful end.
The tournament continues Sunday night as The Blue Raider men play FIU at 9 p.m. If victorious, the Raiders play the Arkansas State - Univ. Ark. Little Rock winner on Monday night at 8:30 p.m.
|
Email
Print
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo!