13 Unlucky Again For Seward in Vegas Loss to Salt Lake
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Seward County Community College | 34 | 17 | 51 |
|
Salt Lake Community College | 26 | 39 | 65 |
It was a tale of two halves for the #7 Seward County Lady Saints once again on Monday night in Las Vegas as they took on #11 Salt Lake in a battle of two NJCAA titans. Unfortunately for the Seward faithful, it was a good first half and a very bad second half Monday as they blew an 11 point late first half lead to eventually lose 65-51 to the Bruins for their first loss of the 2014-2015 season.
For the second time in two nights, the Seward County Lady Saints took the court in a battle of top 20 ranked teams Monday in Las Vegas. This time it was #11 Salt Lake awaiting the gals in green. Seward jumped out to a 5-2 lead on Salt Lake before the Bruins came back to tie the game at 10 seven minutes into things. Two minutes later Seward found themselves down a point when Kyndal Davis scored on back to back possessions to put them up 16-13 midway through the half. The two teams continued to go back and forth to 19-19 when a Davis to Axelle Bernard hookup jumpstarted an 11-0 run for Seward over the next 4:52 to give the Lady Saints command of the game, up 30-19 with under two minutes left in the period. A late basket by Salt Lake cut the Lady Saints lead to 34-26 at the break, but Seward still had the momentum into the locker rooms with an eight point advantage on the Bruins.
The Lady Saints kept things rolling as the second half began as Davis found a crease and scored in the paint to quickly put Seward back up by 10. However, that would be the beginning of the end for the Lady Saints success as Salt Lake scored five straight before a Seward free throw made it a 37-31 game and the Bruins continued their run after the charity, scoring the next 13 points in the game to erase the Lady Saints lead and take a 44-37 lead of their own with 11:33 to go. The Lady Saints deficit continued to increase as they failed to record a field goal until the 6:25 mark when Bernard hit a turnaround jumper, breaking a 13:28 stretch for Seward without a bucket from the field. Despite the drought, Seward trailed just 47-41, but Salt Lake quickly regained their steam, nailing a pair of threes a short time later to take their largest lead of the game at 58-44 with 3:24 remaining. With Head Coach Toby Wynn sending a message to his starting five by placing them on the bench, the Seward reserves actually made a run to put the Lady Saints back in the game, cutting Salt Lake's lead to seven once again at 58-51 with just under 2:00 left. Out of a timeout, Salt Lake had no problem breaking the Lady Saints full court press, getting a wide open layup to push their lead back to nine, and it seemed to have been the nail in Seward's coffin as the Bruins finished the game on a 7-0 run to win going away 65-51.
Seward's offense was putrid in the second half as the Lady Saints managed just 5 field goals, shooting under 19% to finish the game at under 30% shooting from the floor. Seward couldn't throw the ball in the ocean from beyond the arc, going 1 for 17 in the game, and also struggled at the free throw line, shooting just 58% in the loss. For the second straight game, the Lady Saints were beaten up on the boards as Salt Lake outrebounded Seward by 10 in the game and allowed 18 Bruin offensive rebounds. Bernard led Seward with a career high 14 in the defeat while Davis just missed a double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Outside of those two, and Jasmine Jordan, who was 2 for 3 in the loss, the rest of the Seward roster shot just 5 for 46 (11%).
The loss is a deflating one for the Lady Saints who drop their 13th game for the second straight season, while still holding a very respectable 12-1 record after non-conference action. Salt Lake improves to 12-4 with the victory.
The game against Salt Lake marks Seward's fourth against a ranked opponent so far this season, a stretch in which the Lady Saints came out of 3-1.
Seward will now gear up for Jayhawk West Conference action on Saturday when they travel to Great Bend to take on Barton in their conference opener in the Kirkman Center. Seward and Barton will tip at 6:00. The Lady Saints will return home one week from today on January 5th when they host Colby in their 2015 Jayhawk West home opener.