2008 Woodie Awards
Defensive woes doom MT
Blue Raiders end road trip with a loss to UH
Chris Martin
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: Sports
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Amber Holt led all scorers with 28 points, which ties her career-high in that category. The only other player to score in double digits was Angelique Burtts, who scored 12 points in 11 minutes.
This was the second loss in the row for the Blue Raiders (3-3), gaining their first one against Chattanooga. "We are going to make plays and the bottom line is that in D-1 basketball, you have to make some plays," says MT head coach Rick Insell. "We didn't make any plays at Chattanooga and we had some opportunities [today] to grab the game around the neck and we didn't do it."
The losses come at a bad time for the Blue Raiders. They are set to play the University of Maryland and the University of Tennessee, who are ranked number three and number one in the nation according to the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Polls.
The loss also ended a 14-game home win streak that began almost a year ago, Dec. 4, 2006, against Austin Peay State University.
The game was close throughout, with 13 ties and 12 lead changes. Neither team lead by more than nine points.
The Lady Catamounts jumped out early in the game, 15-6, but the Blue Raiders put together a 13-1 run midway through the first half to take a 19-17 advantage. The two teams traded buckets the rest of the half, and Chevon Keith's 15-footer for WCU with five seconds remaining tied the score at 37 at the break.
The first 10 minutes of the second half were no different, with the teams trading shots, although WCU did much of its damage at the foul line. The Lady Catamounts were 16-of-23 at the charity stripe in the second half and 25-for-35 for the game. WCU offset its 26 turnovers by out-rebounding the Blue Raiders, 53-27, including a 20-rebound effort from Brooke Johnson.
Neither club led by more than three points in the second half until consecutive buckets from Amber Holt gave the Blue Raiders a four-point cushion, their largest of the game, at 58-54 with 10:51 to play. But the Lady Catamounts scored the next eight points to take the lead for good, with Johnson completing an old-fashioned 3-point play, Feemster's jumper and a dagger of a 3-pointer from Lauren Powell, prompting a timeout by Middle Tennessee.
Two minutes later the Blue Raiders cut the deficit to one after another Holt basket for two of her game-high 28 points, but then WCU starting knocking down foul shot after foul shot, pushing the lead back to as many as seven with 5:02 left.
Middle Tennessee would get no closer than three the rest of the way, although the Blue Raiders had the ball down one score several times down the stretch but came up empty each trip.
Powell led WCU with 17 points, while Monique Dawson scored 14 points, including a perfect 12-for-12 at the foul line, and Johnson added 12 points to go with her 20 rebounds.
The Blue Raiders take on the Terrapins of the University of Maryland Tuesday in College Park, MD. Game time is 6 p.m. and can be heard on 89.5 FM, WMOT, with Dick Palmer handling the play-by-play duties.
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