Blossoms' Win over SAU Secures 4th Place in GSC West

Sports Information Director

Blossoms Secure 4th place in GSC West with Win over SAU

   The University of Arkansas-Monticello women’s basketball team secured a No. 4 seed into the Gulf South Conference Tournament with a 68-42 win over Southern Arkansas Saturday, March 1.

   UAM, who was in fourth place to begin the night, needed a win to secure a No. 4 seed, due to Christian Brothers defeating Harding by a final score 68-66. Since Henderson State lost to No. 1 Delta State, the Blossoms were guaranteed a No. 5 seed, even with a loss to SAU.

   With the win, the Blossoms will play Alabama-Huntsville in the first round of the GSC tournament Wednesday, March 5 at 12:30 p.m. Alabama-Huntsville is the No. 5 seed from the GSC East.

   In the SAU win, junior leading scorer Andrea Dubose (Hickory, Miss.) led the Blossoms with 11 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. Freshman Erika Brown (Shreveport, La.) and senior Shakia Sanders (Chester, S.C.) trailed closely with 10 points each. Brown was fresh off her career-best game with 25 points in an overtime loss to Christian Brothers.

   Junior Sharlene Murphy (Coldwater, Miss.) and junior Tasha Owens (Fox) both had nine points in the win.

   The Blossoms doubled the Lady Muleriders on the boards, grabbing 52 rebounds to SAU’s 25.

   With the win, UAM improves to 14-13 overall and an even 7-7 in the GSC. The Blossoms will have little time to rest, as the team will have to be in Southaven, Miss., Tuesday, March 4 for the pre-tournament meetings and practices.

   All of UAM's GSC tournament games will be carried live at KHBM-FM 93.7, which will be streamed live through UAM’s athletic Web site by logging on to uamsports.com.

   The GSC will provide live in-game statistics available through its Web site.

Blossoms Drop Overtime Thriller to Christian Brothers

   Christian Brother’s Kat Butler scored 12 of CBU’s 14 points in overtime to lead the Lady Bucs over the University of Arkansas at Monticello’s Cotton Blossoms by a final score of 64-56 at home.

Photo by Eric Bell

Game Plan - Head basketball coach Chris Ratcliff draws up a plan for the Blossoms.  The Blossoms lost to Christian Brothers in overtime 56-64, and fall to 13-13 for the season.

   Christian Brothers scored 26 points in the first half, while the Blossoms scored 24. Those numbers reversed in the second half to send the game into an extra period.

   From there, Bulter took over with two 3-pointers in the first two minutes, followed by six straight successful free-throw attempts.

   Freshman of the year candidate Erika Brown (Shreveport, La.) scored her career high of 25 points in the loss, which was a game high as well. Brown also grabbed nine rebounds.

   Junior Andrea Dubose (Hickory, Miss.) was the only other Blossom to reach double-digits with 10 points.

   With the loss, the Blossoms either need a win over Southern Arkansas or a Henderson State loss to No. 1 Delta State Saturday, March 1 to receive a bid into the Gulf South Conference Tournament that starts next Wednesday, March 5.

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