Lady Raiders Fall Short at IUP in Overtime, Begin Play in PSAC Quarterfinals Tuesday
Feb. 21, 2007
SHIPPENSBURG,
Pa. - Jahzinga Tracey scored a game-high 36 points, two shy
of the Indiana (Pa.) school record, including two from the free throw line
with 22 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Crimson Hawks their first
PSAC Western Division championship since 1999 with an 83-82 overtime victory
over Shippensburg on Wednesday night at Memorial Fieldhouse.
In addition to a divisional championship, the win gave IUP (19-7, 9-2 PSAC
West) the No. 1-seed in next week's PSAC Women's Basketball Championship which
begins on Tuesday with quarterfinal action. Also on Wednesday, the new NCAA
Division II East Region rankings had the Crimson Hawks ranked fifth.
In other PSAC Western Division action Wednesday night, Edinboro clinched the
final playoff berth in the division with a 78-56 victory over Clarion and California
(Pa.) rebounded from Monday night's loss at Shippensburg with a 70-67 win at
Slippery Rock.
As a result, the Western Division standings are as follows: No. 1-seed IUP,
California (Pa.) (7-4 PSAC West), Shippensburg (17-10, 7-5 PSAC West) and Edinboro
(6-5 PSAC West) with all four teams having secured each of the division's available
berths into the conference tournament and setting up what one would call "Seeding
Saturday" on the final day of the regular-season.
When Edinboro travels to California (Pa.) on Saturday for a 5:00 p.m., tip-off
at Hamer Hall, the outcome will determine the schedule for each of the remaining
playoff teams in the Western Division except for IUP who knows it will be playing
at home against the No. 4-seed.
For Lady Raider fans, the scenarios are simple. They are the No. 3-seed either
way. However, who Shippensburg faces on the road in the quarterfinals will
be determined by the outcome of Saturday's game in that the Lady Raiders will
travel to face whoever wins.
A California (Pa.) win would make the Vulcans the clear-cut No. 2-seed which
would send Shippensburg to California (Pa.) next Tuesday, but an Edinboro win
would give the Fighting Scots the No. 2-seed and the Vulcans the No. 4-seed,
sending Shippensburg to Edinboro.
A win by Edinboro would create a three-way tie for second-place in the Western
Division with the Fighting Scots, Lady Raiders and Vulcans all with 7-5 conference
records. In that scenario, the tie-breaker would be the records of each team
against the other two.
Edinboro would be 3-1 with a 2-0 record against California (Pa.) and a mark
of 1-1 versus Shippensburg while the Lady Raiders would have a record of 2-2
with one win against both Edinboro and California (Pa.). The Vulcans would
be 1-3.
As for Wednesday night's overtime thriller which featured 12 ties and 13 lead
changes, the Lady Raiders were led by freshman forward Lauren Beckley
(Fairfield/Fairfield) who had a team-high 24 points to lead the team in scoring for the 15th time
in 27 games this season. She also added nine rebounds, one shy of her eighth
double double.
With 1:51 remaining in regulation, Beckley tied the game for the 10th time
at 71-71 on a jumper before she later sent the game into overtime by hitting
two free throws with 24 seconds left.
IUP began the overtime period with back-to-back baskets by Tracey while forcing
turnovers on two of Shippensburg's first three possessions. Tracey scored six
of the Crimson Hawks' eight points in the extra session, including the last
two from the free throw line to give Indiana (Pa.) an 83-79 lead with 22 seconds
to play.
On the ensuing possession, freshman guard Michelle Metz (Pottstown/Pottsgrove) hit her second three-pointer of the game to pull the Lady Raiders within one
with nine seconds remaining.
After being fouled by sophomore guard Phylicia Bessick (Columbia/Hempfield) with 3.2 seconds remaining, IUP's Katie Glaws missed the first of two free
throws in the double bonus. With four defenders back on defense, Glaws intentionally
missed the second one, forcing the Lady Raiders to go the length of the court
with no timeouts.
As a result, Shippensburg could not get off a quality look at a shot to win
the game and had its three-game winning streak snapped in its regular-season
finale.
After totaling just nine first half turnovers, the Lady Raiders had 11 in the
second half which led to 19 Crimson Hawk points. Red-shirt freshman forward
Jenny Cunningham (McVeytown/Lewistown) just missed her third career double
double and second in the last three games with nine points and 11 rebounds.
She also added a game-high five assists.
Bessick and senior center Shanna Oaddams (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro) were
also in double figures for Shippensburg, each scoring 11 points.
Tracey, who scored all 36 points of her points off the bench as she gave way
to Sejla Borovina who got the start on Senior Night, led four Crimson Hawks
in double figures. Glaws and Staci Heberling each had 11 points while Lauren
Fisher scored 10. In addition to her 11 points, Glaws also added eight rebounds
and five assists.
Shippensburg will now await the result of Saturday night's Edinboro at California
(Pa.) contest to see who and where it will be playing in the quarterfinals
of the PSAC Women's Basketball Championship next Tuesday. Be sure to check
raiders.ship.edu for the latest tournament information. It will be the Lady
Raiders' 12th appearance in the last 13 seasons in the conference tournament.
- Lady Raider Basketball -
