GREENVILLE, S.C. – Anderson University women's basketball (18-13) battled until the final horn coming up just short in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Championship game against Lenoir-Rhyne (23-6), 63-59, on Sunday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
"Words cannot explain how proud we are of this team," said head coach Barbaree. "A month ago, were just putting things together and the last three weeks we made one heck of a run. Unfortunately, we came up four points short of winning a tournament championship and punching a ticket to the NCAA tournament."
"I want to thank the seniors for all their hard work and dedication they put in," emphasized Barbaree. "I especially want to point out that Britney Bailey that has been in the program for five years, due to the Covid year. She doesn't get the recognition from the conference that she deserves, but we know how valuable her presence on and off the court is with this team."
"Lastly, thank you to all the fans that came out to support us, we appreciate you," said Barbaree.
Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne went back and forth in the opening quarter with the Bears claiming the 20-17 advantage after making a 3-point basket with 35 seconds remaining in the period.
The Black and Gold went stone cold in the second period of play remaining on 17 points for six and a half minutes. Finally, a three-point basket by freshman Ashlyn Sheridan broke the drought. Anderson lost the quarter, 15-10, to head into halftime down eight.
Despite giving it every ounce they had, the Trojans could not close the gap after three quarters of action, finding themselves down 11 with the final 10 to play. AU cut the lead to eight points several occasion, before finally dwindling it down to a bucket with 3:54 remaining in the game.
After exchanging layups, AU was still down just two points with 3 minutes remaining. The Trojans could not score another bucket, before LR put together a mini 5-0 run to lead by seven with under 30 seconds to play. Anderson drew within four with seven seconds to go, but simply ran out of time to complete the comeback.
Sophomore Diamond McDowell recorded her 15th double-double on the season scoring a game-high 20 points and ripping down 24 rebounds. McDowell's 24 rebounds broke the SAC Tournament individual game record and her three-game total of 53 rebounds broke the SAC Tournament record for total rebounds. Senior Jalyn Spurlin netted 10 points for the Trojans, while graduate student Caria Reynolds and freshman Ashlyn Sheridan chipped in eight points apiece.
Guard Emily Harman led the way for the Bears, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Azariah Fields and Hannah Stull capped off LR's double-digit scoring with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
AU's Diamond McDowell and Jalyn Spurlin both earned SAC All-Tournament, released by the league at the conclusion of the championship game.
Anderson's fate rest in the hands of the NCAA committee and will be known later in the evening.
