Blossoms Fall to Delta State in Overtime Thriller
Michael Thomas
Staff Writer
Two number one teams took overtime to decide who would take sole possessions of first place in the Women's West division of the Gulf South Conference; as the Lady Statesman defeated the Cotton Blossoms 76-73.
The Blossoms have now lost the last two meeting with Delta State and is the only team it hasn't beaten in the conference.
Reigning GSC player of the week sophomore Erica Brown nailed the second free-throw to put the Blossoms up 51-50 with 10:21 left in the game. Brown followed up with a defensive rebound and the Blossoms wouldn't relinquish the lead until 35 seconds left in the half, when Delta State's Moe Bell knocked down a three to put the Lady Statesman up Delta State called a time-out to set up its defense, which works to perfection causing Arkansas-Monticello to miss a lay-up with six-seconds on the clock. DSU grabbed the rebound and attempted to run out the clock, but soph. Moe Bell set an illegal screen with .6 seconds remaining, giving the Blossoms another opportunity to win or send the game to overtime.
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| Photo by Danielle Kloap |
| A Bit Short - Monica Perkins-Miller makes a crucial shot in the game. The Blossoms come up a bit short as the lose to Delta State by three. |
UAM head women's basketball coach Chris Ratcliff immediately called a timeout, jumping and screaming to get the ref's attention. Ratcliff would demonstrate why the Blossoms are a team to watch out for as he drew up a play that would go down in history.
"With .6 seconds it is not a lot of time to a lot of things, you know you dig dip and you always have that little play that you can run," Ratcliff, said. "I look at Andrea and said 'Do you want this shot,' and she said 'Yes, I want this shot coach'."
The Blossoms ran this play only once this year to practice it in a game against a division 1 school earlier in the year and have not practice the play in over three months.
"It was something I remembered at the last minute and I subbed Taylor in to get a bigger person in for the screen and we ran it to perfection," Ratcliff said. "Now, we won't be able to run that play again, I know we won't be able to run it against Delta."
Dubose known mainly as a jump-shooter, of her 250 field goals attempted 158 are from behind the arc, meaning she does not shoot very many lay-ups.
"I am not very good at making lay-up, but at that point and time I wanted the ball," Dubose, said. "On top of that it was a left hand lay-up, so I was a little nervous but I was confident when it left my hand."
All the Blossoms lined up in single file fashion on the opposite side of the in-bounder, when the ref handed the ball to junior, Nicole Lowe she sold the play to perfection.
THE PLAY:
· Lowe slapped the ball
· All the girls broke toward the basket
· Dubose stop and reverse
· Everyone else sets the screen
· Leaving Dubose Wide-open for a lay-up on the opposite side
Unfortunately, that would be the last FG the Blossoms would make in the game, connecting only from the charity stripe with 5-8 from the line. Those three free-throws would play a major part in the three point lost.
Dubose said, "We were given a second chance that we should have taken advantage of and we didn't."
The loss only added fuel for the Blossoms as they look forward to facing DSU in the conference tournament for a rematch.
Dubose said, "I feel very confident that we will knock Delta out of the tournament, because the third time is the charm."
UAM knew this would not be an easy week as they face Ouachita Baptist Saturday, Feb. 14. OBU has not lost a home game during conference play.
"I knew this was going to be the hardest week of the season for us, we have DSU and then turn around an play OBU a day later," Ratcliff, said. "OBU beat Delta at home and they (OBU) are undefeated at home."
The Blossom drop to a 7-2 conference record tying with Arkansas Tech for second, while DSU advance to 8-1 with sole possession of first place
DSU returns home to face last place Christian Brothers at 4 p.m. at Walter Sillers Coliseum.
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