College of Charleston
Western Carolina
Western Carolina Outlasts Charleston, 101-87, in Three Overtimes to Win SoCon Title
3/9/2009 4:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Western Carolina outscored the College of Charleston women's basketball team 16-2 in the third overtime of the 2009 Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championship game to claim the tournament title and NCAA Tournament automatic berth, 101-87.
The tournament title is the second for Western Carolina, the last in 2005, which was ironically a two-overtime affair and also at Chattanooga. The Lady Catamounts (21-11) will now await word on their NCAA Tournament destination. The Cougars end the season with a 23-8 record.
Trailing the Lady Catamounts by five with 18 seconds remaining in the second half, College of Charleston's Tonia Gerty nailed a 3-pointer to pull the Cougars within two. On the ensuing possession for WCU, Gerty stole the ball to give CofC a chance to tie the game with seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Gerty drove through Lady Catamount defenders to lay-up the equalizer with two seconds remaining and send the game to overtime.
In the first overtime Charleston jumped out to a 74-70 lead before WCU tied it at 74 with 11 seconds remaining. The Cougars drove the length of the court and Sarah Moye hit a corner jumper to put the Cougars up two with 1.8 seconds remaining. However, on the inbounds play WCU's Lauren Powell set up on the baseline and was plowed over by Cougar Brooke Kotcella as she defended the inbound passer. Powell was rewarded two free throws and calmly sank both shots to tie the game at 76 heading into overtime.
The second overtime featured another set of runs as College of Charleston went up by five, 83-78, with 2:46 remaining and again at 85-80 with 1:59 remaining. However, Powell came through for WCU again as she scored the final five points of the period to send the game to the final overtime tied at 85.
The Lady Catamounts pulled away in the SoCon-tournament record 3rd overtime, winning by 14.
“No one deserved to lose that game,” said Western Carolina head coach Kellie Harper. “I honestly believe those two teams deserved to be there, and no one deserved to lose.”
The game set several tournament records. College of Charleston's 88 field goal attempts broke the old record of 86 that Chattanooga set against Appalachian State in 1991. The game was the third-highest scoring game in SoCon Tournament history. Western Carolina's 101 points was also just the third 100-point game in tournament history. CofC's Jade Hughes recorded 52 minutes of action, a tournament single-game record.
The Lady Catamounts were paced by five double-digit scorers. Tournament Most Outstanding Player Brooke Johnson recorded a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Johnson also finished the tournament with nine blocked shots, which broke the old record of eight set by Appalachian State's Shannon Thomas in 1990.
Powell scored 19 points, while All-Tournament second teamer Emily Clarke (18), Kristen Feemster (15) and Heather Swayne (12) all recorded double-digit point totals.
Leading the way for the Cougars were three All-Tournament first team performers in guards Jade Hughes and Tonia Gerty and center Deidra Jones. Gerty scored 20 points and dished out eight assists, while Hughes scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists. Jones had 14 points and 12 assists for her third-straight tournament double-double. Moye also chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds in her final collegiate game.
Regulation was a tale of two halves, with CofC taking a 12-point lead into halftime before Western outscored the Cougars 45-33 in the second half to send the game to overtime.
In the first half Charleston went on a 15-2 run to end the half turning a 23-22 deficit into a 37-25 halftime lead. The Cougars expanded their lead to 15 at 40-25 with 19:03 left in regulation before the Lady Catamounts stormed back. Over the next 14 minutes of game action WCU went on a 36-13 run to turn the 15-point deficit into an eight point lead at 61-53 with 5:36 remaining in regulation. The Cougars would not go away, however, as they again rallied with a 12-9 run to set up Gerty's final five points in 13 seconds to send the game into overtime.
All-Tournament Team
First Team
Brooke Johnson, Western Carolina
Deidra Jones, College of Charleston
Jade Hughes, College of Charleston
Tagan Hatchett, Chattanooga
Tonia Gerty, College of Charleston
Second Team
Chika Okoli, Samford
Courtney Medley, Elon
Emily Clarke, Western Carolina
Jenaya Wade-Fray, Chattanooga
Brittany Mixon, Appalachian State
Most Outstanding Player ? Brooke Johnson, Western Carolina
