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Printer-Friendly ModeYoung Lady Cards find trouble in closing out halves
January 23, 2006 —
For 35 minutes, the SVSU women's basketball team looked like it could play with anybody. Then it couldn't score.
The Lady Cardinals were held scoreless for the last 4:54 of the second half and watched its six-point lead turn into a three-point loss to Ashland on Saturday, 71-68.
Sophomore Kara Kinzer led all scorers with 23 points for SVSU, which also went scoreless for the last 3:53 of the first half and let the Eagles come back from a nine-point deficit to tie the game at the end of the half.
"A year from now we will win that game," said coach Vonnie Killmer of the team's young roster. "The killer instinct just is not there yet."
The Cardinals had a 12-point lead midway through the first half and seemed to take the lead for good with 16:09 left in the second half on a basket by sophomore Kali Briggs. SVSU held the advantage until Ashland tied the game with 1:46 left in the game.
SVSU found itself up 68-62 when it scored its final points, a jumper by junior Valerie Smith. The Eagles notched up the defense slightly, Killmer said, and the team was unable to score from that point on.
"Once we get to the point where we know we can win, we let up," she said. "Everyone tenses up, and when you're not used to winning, it's even worse."
The Cardinals got the ball back with 28.6 seconds left and down two points, and Smith had a chance to tie the game with nine seconds left but missed a turn around jumper. The Eagles only made one of two free throws after the ensuing foul, but sophomore Jenna Schroeder was unable to capitalize and missed a three-pointer from the top of the key as time ran out.
Ashland shot just (24-of-59) 40.7 percent for the game, due mostly to SVSU's zone defense.
"We frustrated them on offense some today," Killmer said. "We are playing all zone right now. It's better for us to stay in zone."
The Eagles made 23 of 28 free throw attempts (82.1 percent) to make up the difference, as SVSU took only two free throws.
Guard Amber Rall led Ashland with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting while making 6 of 8 free throws. The junior scored 16 of her points in the first half to keep the Eagles alive, and added seven rebounds and five assists in playing a team-high 36 minutes. Sophomore forward Lynsey Warren came off the bench to score 17 points and grab seven rebounds.
Kinzer had the hot hand for SVSU, shooting 9-of-19 from the floor, including 5-of-13 from behind the arc. Schroeder added 18 points on 8-of-19 shooting, and freshman Tricia Everett had nine assists and seven rebounds but just two points in 24 minutes after being in foul trouble the entire second half.
SVSU had won its last three games at home, including a 72-64 win over Findlay on Thursday night. The loss dropped the Lady Cardinals to 3-6 in the GLIAC and 6-12 overall, while the Eagles improved to 7-2 in the conference and 12-7 overall.
The Lady Cardinals will finish the month with a road trip to the Upper Peninsula to face Michigan Tech on Thursday and Northern Michigan on Saturday.