WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Tenth-seeded South Carolina State erased all but two points of a 13-point second-half deficit before falling to seventh-seed Florida A&M in the opening game of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament Tuesday at the Lawrence Joel Veteran Memorial Coliseum.
The loss eliminated first-year head coach Doug Robertson's team, which closed out a 6-23 campaign. FAMU, which improved to 13-16, moved to Wednesday's quarterfinals.
Marie Reid, one of three SC State seniors playing their final game, had 17 points and eight rebounds in the Lady Bulldog loss. Freshman Brijan came off the bench for 10 points and junior Sophilia Hipps added nine, all but one in the second half.
SC State played the final 10:41 without leading rebounder and third-leading scorer Jenell Moore, who sustained a knee injury. Moore and Kristin Johnson were the other two Lady Bulldog seniors completing their careers.
Robertson's team, which trailed 33-25 at the half, fell behind 47-34 when Deidra Jones made a lay-up and was fouled with 15:33 to play. The Powder Springs, Ga. native missed the free throw which would have increased the margin.
Hipps got a layup, followed by a 3-pointer with 9:19 left to ignite a 16-5 run that pulled the Lady Bulldogs to within 52-50 when Reid put back her own miss with 1:42 on the clock.
The Lady Rattlers turned the ball over with 1:18 showing and SC State took a timeout to set up a play. Two SC State attempts were off the mark, but each time the ball went out-of-bounds off FAMU, giving the Lady Bulldogs another opportunity to tie.
With just over 12 seconds left, SC State took its final timeout to set up, yet another play, which almost worked to perfection as Johnson got inside on a drive, but her lay-up attempt rolled off the rim and FAMU rebounded the miss.
Johnson fouled the Lady Rattlers' Stephanie Foster, a 70.3 percent free throw shooter, who cashed both opportunities with 8.6 seconds left for the final margin.
The loss closed out dismal campaign for Robertson, who was in his first season as Lady Bulldog mentor.
“The game was pretty much a synopsis of our season,” Robertson said. “We play well in spurts as we allowed Florida A&M to make runs During a timeout, we told our players we needed to match their (Lady Rattlers) intensity, their runs.
“And, in the second half,” he continued, We did just that and gave ourselves an opportunity to win the ballgame. But, Florida A&M made a few more free throws and that was basically the difference in the game.
“We didn't get the lay-up to go down there at the end of the game, but I told out players, one play was not the difference in the game. It's the total game that determines the outcome – a victory or a loss – and hopefully, they understand that. This was a great learning experience for us.”
FAMU was led by Jones with 15 points. Antonia Bennett added 13 points and an equal number of rebounds, while Foster contributed 11, including the two clinching free throws.
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