Lady Eagles Fall in NCCAA National Tournament Semifinals to Oakland City University, 61-60

Winona Lake, IN:  The #4 seeded Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles came back from a 12-point deficit in the final quarter only to see the top-seeded Oakland City Lady Oaks sink a free throw with two-tenths of a second remaining, and dropped a heart-breaking 61-60 decision. The contest was played on Thursday, March 16^th, in the Hoosier State.

In the opening segment, ALC was ice-cold as they only sank 4-17 shots. Due to this, they would trail 12-8 after ten minutes of play.

In the second quarter, the lid would stay shut as the Eagle shots would just not connect. For the entire half, the Kentucky squad would only shoot 27.7%. However, due to some hard-nosed defense, Coach John Mills's chargers were fortunate to only trail 27-22 at intermission.

In the third period, the Caney Creek club would try to break the ice but misfired on all five three-point attempts. After thirty minutes of action, the Pippa Passes squad was shooting an uncharacteristic 1-16 from long distance (.06%). Even more remarkable, one of the nation's best free throw shooting teams was only 4-11 from the free throw line. This would enable the Oaks to pull ahead by thirteen points (44-31) late, and the stanza would end with the Bluegrass ladies trailing, 44-35.

In the final stanza, the Pippa Passes crew looked to be dead in the water as they trailed by eleven (54-43) with six minutes showing. Incredibly, after shooting so poorly for three periods, the squad suddenly caught fire.

In the next minute of action, sophomore guard Katie Jo Moore would sink back-to-back bombs, and senior guard Hannah Kash would hit a runner in the paint to spark a quick 8-2 burst. Now, at the midpoint, the score read 56-51. The Caney Creek girls were not finished.

Over the next few minutes, ALC would continue to clamp down on the defensive end. On offense, junior forward Madison Thompson would sink two big charity tosses to reduce the deficit further (56-53).

After another stop on defense gave them back the roundball, Kash would swish a huge trifecta from the right wing at 2:40 to tie the score (56-56). Then, on the very next possession, senior guard Tori Hampton would shoot the gap, swipe a pass, and race down the court for a layup. Suddenly, with 2:30 remaining, the Lady Eagles had their first lead of the game, 58-56. The lay-in capped off a massive 15-2 burst.

Oakland City would tie things one minute later with two free throws (58-58), only to see Moore make a beautiful move going to her left to put the Kentucky team ahead 60-58 at the one-minute mark.

On the next trip, OCU would attempt a three to take the lead, but the shot bounded off. Unfortunately, Alice Lloyd would knock the ball out, giving the favorites a second chance. The Oaks would get the ball to center Jalaya Dowell in the paint, and her bucket tied the contest yet again (60-60) with forty ticks left in regulation.

The Pippa Passes club ran the clock down and got the ball to their leading scorer, Kash looking for more magic. However, she slipped on a drive with just .14 remaining, giving the ball back to the Indiana team.

Oakland brought the ball in and ran the clock down, looking for a final shot. While defending the ball, Kash was tripped and fell, but no foul was called. Left wide open, her opponent got a wide-open look that, fortunately, missed. OC's Dowell grabbed the errant shot and missed with only two-tenths of a second showing, but this time, Lady Eagle sophomore McKayla May was whistled for a tough foul, giving the Lady Oaks a chance to win the game.

Having observed her club shoot a perfect 11-11 from that lineup to that point in the period, she missed the first, to increase the tension. Disappointingly to the Eagle fans in attendance, Dowell drained the second, to send her mates to the championship game.

For Alice Lloyd (20-10), who showed a ton of grit in making an incredible comeback, Kash led all players with 21 points (8-18 FGs) She grabbed 6 boards, and added 3 steals. Moore added 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. Thompson added 8 points and 8 boards while May added 7 points and 6 rebounds to the cause.

The Eagles shot just 38.1% (24-63) from the field and 20% (4-20) from long range. They hurt themselves by shooting only 47.1% (8-17) from the foul line and added 38 rebounds, 13 assists, and 12 steals. Interestingly, in the crucial last period, they shot 64.3% from the floor and hit 3-4 long bombs.

OCU (22-9) was paced by Dowell, with a 15-point, 15-rebound, double-double. Her squad finished shooting 31.3% (20-64) from the field and 21.7% (5-23) from deep. They won the game by shooting 84.2% (16-19) from the foul line. They also added 50 rebounds, 11 assists, and 5 steals.

The Lady Eagles return to action on Saturday, March 18^th, when they close out the season playing the #3 seed, Grace College (IN) in the third-place game. Tipoff is scheduled for 10:00 am.