LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- March is well known for its college tournaments, and Friday, March 11 marked the beginning of the NCCAA Mid-East Region Tournament hosted this year by Covenant College. The hosting Lady Scots were the 4 seed and took on the top ranked 1 seed Lady Tornado of King College. These two teams may not have battled recently but there is a long history between both teams as they were both once members of the Appalachian Athletic Conference, playing each other twice a year during the regular season and possibly more depending on post season match-ups. Friday, it was a true battle of the provisionals as Covenant is in the process of moving to NCAA division III and King is currently making the move to division II.
The game was a rough one for Covenant as slow offensive production led to a large lead in King's favor. The halftime lead of 20 points was insurmountable as King continued to make shots pushing their lead throughout the second half, eventually taking a 64-36 advantage when the game ended.
The opening tip was won by Covenant but their first possession was a missed layup by junior Margaret Cross. It was that kind of night for the Lady Scots as they struggled to shake off the rust of the 2 weeks off between games. Even with good looks, the Lady Scots only converted 6 shots of their 22 in the first half resulting in an ice cold 27.3% from the floor. Freshman Jessie Blankenship and Cross both finished the half with 5 points each, accounting for 10 of the team's 16 points. Junior Hannah Craft led the team with 4 rebounds and five of her teammates grabbed 2 rebounds apiece.
As stale as the offense appeared, the trademark defense seemed to be the facet of the game that was most affected by the time off as King manipulated its way to 50% (13-26) from the floor and 50% (5-10) from the three point line. Senior Ashley Deans led the way for the Lady Tornado by scoring 9 points on 3-5 from the floor. She also made all 3 of her free throws. The one category both teams seemed to be even in was total rebounds. King held a slight edge as they outnumbered Covenant by one at 16-15.
The Lady Scots have been, by nature, a team that seemed to find a way to always have one good half of every game. If ever there was a time to have one, the second half against King would be it. But it was not to be as King started with the ball and hit a three pointer in its first possession. Although the Lady Scots had a better shooting percentage (8-23 for 34.8%), it was not enough to make a dent in the strong King lead.
The Covenant defense shook off the rust and held the aggressive Lady Tornado to 29.4% (10-34) shooting in the second half. But as the game ended, the scoreboard read 64-36 in favor of King, and after a 84-78 win over Oakland City University in the championship game, the Lady Tornado punched their ticket to the NCCAA national tournament.
Cross finished with a game-high 14 points, shooting 5-12 from the floor and 4-7 from behind the arc. Sophomore Kiaira Cooper scored 7 of her 8 points in the second half. Craft finished the game leading the Lady Scots in rebounding with senior Emily Dupree close behind with 7 boards of her own. As a team, the Lady Scots shot 30.4% (14-46) from the floor and 33.3% (5-15) from three point range.
With the loss the Lady Scots 2010-2011 season came to a close, finishing their season 5-21. Of those 5 wins, 4 of them came in a row at home.
