No. 1 McNeese State Finds Stride Late vs. UTSA in 66-50 Win
By Brandon C. Williams
Southland.org
KATY, Texas - Shot after shot failed to find its mark, but McNeese State coach Brooks Donald Williams showed neither fear nor concern as her top-seeded Cowgirls went into the locker down 27-24 against a UTSA team they had defeated by 29 points four weeks ago.
Instead, Williams encouraged her team to keep shooting.
The encouragement paid off, as McNeese State shot 56 percent in the second half en route to a 66-50 win over UTSA in Thursday's semifinal round, giving the Cowgirls (25-6) a date against Central Arkansas on Friday night for the right to advance to the NCAA tournament.
"We didn't do a whole lot differently," said Williams. "I thought we played well offensively in the first half, but our shots weren't falling. When you have good shooters, you have to patient sometimes."
Patience was a virtue, as McNeese used a 17-4 run midway in the second half to pull away from the Roadrunners, whose season ends at 16-15.
Sophomore guard Ashlyn Baggett hit two of her five 3-pointers during that run, while sister Caitlyn added eight of her game-high 20 in the same span, including a pair of free throws that gave the Cowgirls a 55-40 lead with 4:57 remaining.
Whereas McNeese State found its stroke, the Roadrunners lost theirs in the final 20 minutes, shooting just 33 percent on an afternoon when UTSA got just one point from leading scorer Amber Gregg, 13 below her average.
The Cowgirls also stepped up the defensive pressure on UTSA forward Ashleigh Franklin, who was limited to one point and one rebound in second half that saw her foul out with 4:43 remaining.
Much of the credit went to McNeese State forwards Kiara Johnson and Kendra Wells, who combined to score 18 points while pulling down 23 of the Cowgirls' 38 rebounds.
"They kept giving us either second chance shot clocks or finished the play themselves," said Williams.
UTSA looked nothing like the team that had endured a 72-43 defeat to McNeese on Feb. 16, erasing an early 16-10 deficit while responding with a 14-3 run of their own to take a 24-19 lead with 4:49 in the first half. Franklin keyed the spurt for the Roadrunners, scoring eight points.
Consecutive treys from Ashlyn Baggett and Ne'Aisha Anderson gave the Cowgirls the lead for good with 17:11 left; UTSA would draw within 38-36 on a basket from Alysse Davis (team-high 18 points) at the 13:10 mark, but were never able to slow down McNeese.
"They came out and shot lights out," said UTSA coach Rae Ripptoe-Blair of McNeese. "We couldn't get a stop."
The win was the 11th straight for the Cowgirls, who have won 18 of their last 19 games.
McNeese split the season series against Central Arkansas, which advanced with a 68-60 overtime win over defending women's champion Lamar. The Sugar Bears handed the Cowgirls their last loss, a 74-73 overtime thriller on January 29 before McNeese evened matters with a 65-59 home victory on February 12.
McNeese State Quotes
Coach Brooks Donald Williams
Opening Statement: "We're just really excited. It's been since 1983 that McNeese State has played in the conference tournament championship. This team has done things that no other team in school history has done and continues to build on that. I'm really excited about our focus. We were able to concentrate on UTSA and not look ahead to the next game. I thought we were able to do that for 40 minutes. We were a little sluggish in the first half, but we were able to put ourselves in a position to finish it off in the second half, and we did."
On second half: "This is a group that knows what's at stake and they know what they're fighting for. I think even if I didn't say a word at half, they would still be ready to play. And that's not in every player but that's definitely in them. I'm just very impressed."
On shooting in second half: "We didn't really do anything different. We took the same shots, we got penetration, but we've just got great shooters. We have a lot of kids who can knock it down from the outside. When you've got good shooters, you just have to be patient. Sometimes it's going to fall and at times it's not. We took good shots in the first half, they just didn't fall. But in the second half when we knocked down a few shots, one went in after another and it was a green light from there. When we did miss, we were able to rebound much better than we did in the first game."
On playing Central Arkansas for a tournament championship: "They're a good basketball team. They play extremely physical. We will have to do some things that maybe we didn't do at home the last time we played. We will definitely defend them better than before to limit their inside game. That's a mismatch for us as well as them. But I expect a really tough game but it will be fun at the same time. I think it will be a great representation of how tough the Southland Conference has become."
Ashlyn Baggett
On playing UTSA a second time: "Every team that comes into this tournament in 0-0, so they don't really care what happened in the regular season. They made it here and we all know it's an even playing field. I think we all come out with a sense of confidence and have the same drive to get to the finals."
Caitlyn Baggett
On second half performance, being patient: "When we went in at half we got focused and we take pride before coming out and play our hardest. We made defensive stops and made the plays we needed."
UTSA Quotes
Coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair
Opening Statement: "I want to give McNeese State a lot of credit. We were able to take the lead going into halftime, but in the second half, McNeese shot lights out. We just couldn't get it stopped. But I have to say we played hard and with a lot of heart."
On first half lead: "There was no doubt we could play with this team. Even after Franklin fouled out, she told us we can still get this done. I think we really believed. We tried to press, but just couldn't get our shots to fall."
Ashleigh Franklin
On first half lead: "I felt like we were in a position to win the game. Even when we were behind in the second half, I felt we could win the game. No matter what happened in the first game, that was behind us. We came here to win the tournament. We played our heart. We just didn't end up how we had hoped."
Alysse Davis
On second half: "Especially for the seniors, we were emotionally fired up for this game. We were playing the number one seed, and at times it felt like it was slipping, but when you're out there, you can't lose focus. I kept telling Franklin we're not going to catch up if we keep tripping, we just have to get stops. They hit some key shots, which I take the blame for that. It never crossed my mind that we were out of it. At some point you win some, you lose some and now it's over for us.