Lubbock, TX - With two teams that play defense the way Murray State College and McLennan Community College do, it was not unexpected that their clash in the opening round of the 2023 Division I Women's Basketball Championship would be a low-scoring one.
And it certainly lived up to the billing. The Aggies and Highlassies, both of whom rank among the best in the nation in scoring defense, both under 56 points per game, let their defense do the hard work for most of the game on Thursday at the Rip Griffin Center. In the end, it took an extra period for either of the teams to reach the 50-point mark.
Saneea Bevley scored her only points of the game on a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left in OT, and a free throw following a steal on the other end, and McLennan survived the upset bid by Murray State for a 50-47 victory.
"I think we've done a good job of overcoming adversity throughout the year," McLennan head coach Bill Brock said. "We've been in a lot of close games. We execute well when the game's tied at the end and I'm proud of that.
"I think Murray State played outstanding defense and I don't think we adjusted real well throughout the game to somebody being up in our space all the time."
Miannah Little and Bineta Diatta had 13 points apiece for the Highlassies (28-4), who advance to face Trinity Valley Community College at 5 p.m. on Friday.
Both teams shot under 30 percent for the game, and they combined to go 7-for-45 from the 3-point line.
"Effort and intensity was not an issue. It was the fact that we just couldn't hit a shot," Brock said. "I thought our defense was really good from the middle of the fourth quarter through the overtime. We hit some crucial free throws, but we also could have hit some other free throws that we missed that could have put the game out of reach."
McLennan had a chance to win the game in regulation when Little went to the free-throw line with 4.2 seconds remaining and the Highlassies down one. She hit the first free throw but missed the second, giving Murray State (26-7) a shot, but the Aggies threw the ball away under the basket, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Aaliiyah Holmes and Diatta combined to hit three free throws (missing three others), and Little added a jumper to quickly put the Highlassies up five. The Aggies answered, however, with six straight points to regain the lead at 47-46 with 1:15 5o play.
Then, with 44.1 left, Bevley took an inbound pass in the left corner as Murray covered the pain and drained the 3-pointer to put McLennan back in front. She added a steal on the other end and was fouled, hitting one of two free throws for a 50-47 lead.
Murray State had one last shot to tie, but Reese Webb's 3-pointer from the left wing bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded, giving McLennan the win.
Busby finished with a game-high 15 points and 12 rebounds for Murray State, and Jade Millan added 10 points in the losing effort.
Neither team shot the ball very well in the first half. McLennan hit at just 22.6 percent (7 of 31) and Murray State was just a tick better at 28.6 percent (8 of 28) and combined the team was just 1-for-22 from the 3-pointer line, including starting the game 0-for-17.
Murray State took the first lead with five straight points early in the first quarter, getting a free throw and a putback by Reese Webb. But McLennan answered out of a time-out with a 6-0 run, four points coming on consecutive layups by Miannah Little.
Mattie Busby answered to start the second quarter with two straight drives to the basket for easy layups to put Murray State up 13-8, but McLennan answered again with a Chelsea Wooten 3-pointer kickstarting a 7-0 run that gave the Highlassies their first lead of the game at 15-13 with 4:11 to play in the half.
The Aggies came right back with four straight points, and a pair of free throws by Webb with 38 seconds to play was enough to put Murray State up 19-17 at halftime.
