KERRVILLE, Texas – A prolonged scoring drought in the third quarter doomed the Southwestern University Pirates women's basketball team, who lost 76-58 to the Austin College Kangroos in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Tournament semifinals.
Southwestern started strong, opening the game with an 11-0 run as seniors Cecily Woolfolk and Naomi Brown alternated scoring buckets inside and first year Lauren Fulenwider hit a 3-pointer.
Austin College came surging back with three triples, getting one each from Ally Longaker, Natalie McCoy, and Sarah Gwin in a little under a minute-and-a-half to pull within 13-9. For a second game in a row, poor Pirate defensive execution on a pick-and-roll led to a pair of free throws, allowing Austin College to pull within one at 19-18 heading into the second quarter.
Brown was strong for the Pirates, scoring eight in the quarter on 4-for-5 shooting and Woolfolk added six, hitting both her shot attempts and both her free throws as the Pirates outrebounded the Kangaroos 13-5.
Woolfolk picked up two fouls within less than 30 second of each other in the second quarter, sending her to the bench with 6:16 remaining in the half. Erin Toro stepped up for the Pirates, scoring eight points on a pair of and-one plays and an offensive put back.
McCoy was equally impressive off the bench for the Kangaroos, however, scoring nine points in the quarter, and Kacie West banked in a 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining in the half to give Austin College a 39-37 lead going into the break.
The Pirates took a brief lead in the third quarter, going inside to Woolfolk for a quick layup, getting a 3-pointer from Zhazze Brown, and a pair of free throws from Woolfolk to pull ahead 44-42 with 8:10 remaining in the third.
Things quickly unraveled for the Pirates, however, as the referees' whistle did something no opponent had been able to in recent weeks: stop Woolfolk.
From screens to blocks and drop steps, Woolfolk was seemingly on the wrong end of the whistle at almost every point of contact, playing just five minutes in the second half before fouling out. Woolfolk managed 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting and 11 rebounds, finishing with another double-double despite only playing 16 minutes.
Without their scoring hub, the Pirates' offense slowly drifted apart, shooting just 8-for-33 in the second half (24.2 percent) as Austin College outscored Southwestern 37-21 over the final 20 minutes.
All five of the Pirates' upperclassmen reached double figures, led by Toro's 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting with five rebounds. Naomi Brown finished her career with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes before fouling out. Zhazze Brown had 11 points and four assists and Noel Pratts had 10 points, six rebounds, and two assists.
McCoy led Austin College with 25 points on a blistering 8-for-12 shooting, including 3-for-4 from long range and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line. Longaker had 19 points on 17 shots and Reagan Chiaverini had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
For the game, Austin College outshot Southwestern 42.9 percent to 37.5 percent. The Kangaroos also outscored the Pirates form the free-throw line, attempting 23 to the Pirates' 10.
With the loss, the Pirates end their season at 11-16, including 8-10 against conference opponents. The Pirates will graduate four seniors this season with juniors Toro and Pratts expected to step in as senior leaders next season.
