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KATY, Texas – Northwestern trailed top-seed Lamar for 19:56 of the second half, yet Janelle Perez made sure the Demons held the lead for the most important four seconds.
Perez’s third basket in the final 57 seconds was the game-winner as the fourth-seed Demons advanced to Sunday’s Southland Conference tournament women’s title game with a 61-60 win over the Cardinals, capping off a furious rally that appeared unlikely in the final 66 seconds.
“There’s nobody in this league that I want with the ball in their hands than Janelle Perez at the end of the game,” Northwestern coach Brooke Stoehr said. “She’s clutch, and clutch players make clutch plays at very critical times.”
The victory carries the Demons (20-12) into their first tourney title contest since beating Texas-Arlington for the 2004 championship.
Perez’s end-game heroics were set up in part by a Northwestern defense that kept Lamar to just a field goal for the final 9 minutes of the contest, as the Demons’ defensive effort was capped off by forcing a 5-second violation that opened the door for the dramatic finish.
“We’ve gotten key stops when we needed them,” Stoehr said. “That 5-second call was probably the biggest defensive possession we’ve had all year.”
The Cardinals missed out on sealing the game during a sequence in which forward Alice Robinson (13 points) grabbed five offensive rebounds in nearly two minutes. While Lamar was able to control the clock and possession of the ball, the stretch resulted in only one point, giving them a 60-55 lead with 1:06 to go.
Poor free throw shooting also help dim the lights on Lamar; the Cardinals made just one of four attempts from the line down the stretch.
“They put the dagger down in us,” said Lamar coach Robin Harmony, whose team will advance to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. “It was a nightmare. It was our game to win, and we gave it to them.”
Northwestern jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the early going and held the lead for most of the first half before Shauna Long’s 3-pointer gave the Cardinals its first lead at 34-32 with 1:18 before intermission.
The Demons dominated the opening 20 minutes behind the play of forward Trudy Armstead, who scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the first half. Armstead also added eight rebounds, continuing her impressive tournament run.
The Cardinals led by as much as 48-40 in the opening stages of the second half behind the shooting of Robinson, who also had eight rebounds. Gia Ayers’ 3-pointer with 13:45 remaining gave them a 51-44 edge, yet it would be the last successful trey for Lamar, which shot just 2 of 8 beyond the arc in the second half.
Postgame Quotes…
Northwestern State coach: Brooke Stoehr
“Wow! I think first of all you have to congratulate Lamar on a tremendous season. They’ve got some very special players on their ball club. I thought today was just a battle. We got up on them early and they fought back. I thought it was a tremendous game overall and a lot of credit goes to Lamar and how they competed. I couldn’t be more proud of the group of ladies that I have in (my) locker room. They’re fighters.”
On holding Lamar without a basket the last four minutes:
“In our timeouts, we talked about the importance of getting stops in order to get the ball back. We really focused in on personnel and knowing who their shooters was and who we wanted to touch the ball. Our kids executed it beautifully. At this point in the year it’s about players making plays and that’s what we saw today.”
On getting the five-second call and last possession of the game:
“We haven’t been the best defensive team … but we got key stops when we needed them. That five-second call is probably the biggest defensive possession we have had all year. There is nobody in this league that I want the ball in their hands more than Janelle Perez at the end of the game … she’s clutch. Clutch players make clutch plays at very critical times. I told her at halftime that you were made for these moments. She came through today in a big way.”
Northwestern State guard Janelle Perez
On making the go-ahead basket with four-seconds left in the game:
“I can’t take all the credit. My teammates played hard and I love being around this group of girls. The last play … I just knew that I had to go score.”
Northwestern State forward Trudy Armstead
On her performance and pacing the team:
“The past few games I have been struggling going up strong … so coach has been getting on me about that. I just tried to take the ball in strong and get fouled.”
On her perspective of the last play of the game:
“Coach said Janelle shot was clutch; clutch is an understatement. Janelle is the one person we want the ball in her hands at the end of the game because she is the one that will make a play. It was amazing!”
Lamar coach Robin Harmony
“I think that we played really good basketball until the last minute of the game. These kids got us here. We should have won this game. Credit to Northwestern for their composure; they scored when they needed to; they put the dagger down on us. When we missed those two jumpers, that’s dagger time; you’ve got to hit those. We were one-for-four from the free throw line at the end. Obviously two of those free throws were from a freshman but it wasn’t a freshman that took those two shots. It was nightmare. It was our game to win and we just gave it to them. If you’re going to be the one seed you’ve got to come and finish the job. You’ve got to at least get yourself to the championship game.”
On playing to win versus playing not to lose:
“Anything 15 foot they drilled it on us. We’re going to learn from this mistake and live with it. When it’s on the line and the shot clock is down they made the basket. That’s the team that wins and that’s the team that gets the confidence.”
On the depth of the Southland Conference:
“My staff is new to Southland Conference. I knew when we got in the conference that on any day anyone can beat you. It was proved by us. We won the regular season co with Stephen F. Austin but when you look at the five teams we lost to, we lost to the seventh, eighth, ninth and the tenth ranked teams then Stephen F. Austin beat us. That just proves to you that anybody on any given day can take you.”
Lamar guard Gia Ayers
On offensive struggled down the stretch:
“I think everything was working, we just weren’t being aggressive like we were from the start. They were really aggressive on defense. Other than that, we didn’t really stray away from what we were playing.”
Lamar forward Alice Robinson
On winning Northwestern State basket:
“I was wishing it would have come off and I would have gotten the rebound. She got the look down and the bounce and it dropped in. With two seconds left I knew we had to get something done and that was it.”