Box score | Season stats
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After pulling off one of the greatest turnarounds in MIAA history to make the conference tournament, the SBU Bearcats met a hotter team. The top-seeded Washburn Lady Blues won their 11th straight game, taking the first round MIAA Tournament matchup with the Bearcats, 80-60.
"Washburn is the best defensive team in the conference and does a solid job of guarding every position. They limited our chances, and guarded the three well," said SBU head coach J.C. Carter. "Our team was relentless and fought until the end. That showed with a steal and bucket in the final two seconds."
Freddie Sims led the Bearcats with 14 points, while Ashleigh Gallio had 11 points and five steals. In her final game with SBU, Rachel Graves had 10 points, four rebounds and two steals. Kourtni Williams had seven points and six rebounds.
For the game, the taller Washburn team outrebounded the Bearcats 49-27. The Lady Blues also had 23 assists on 29 made buckets. Graves said the Lady Blues' height was somewhat of a factor in the game. "We could have shot-faked better and tried to draw fouls, but we really came out timid and not confident."
A three-pointer from Chasity Prince cut an early WU lead to 30-21 with 4:43 left, but the Lady Blues closed the half with 10-2 run to lead 40-23 at halftime. Washburn shot 59% from the field in the opening frame while holding the Bearcats to 29%. The Lady Blues extended the lead to as much as 29 points, but the Bearcats battled to the final horn. Carter and Graves both noted that competitiveness in their postgame comments.
"This was an amazing experience," said Graves. "This team is full of competitors who worked hard and fought until the end. The improvement we showed from the first part of the season -- I'm almost speechless." After starting the conference schedule at 1-10, SBU won seven of the last nine regular season games to qualify for the MIAA Tournament.
Carter added the vast improvement was a tribute to his senior leadership (Graves, Jasmine Sanford, Carissa Morrill). "Rachel was our hardest worker and Jas and Carissa had phenomenal attitudes. The younger players fed off that."
The Bearcats finish the season at 10-18. Washburn (24-3) moves onto Saturday's semifinal action, and will play the winner of Pittsburg State and Northwest Missouri State.