Lady Saints Road Woes Continue

The Greenhouse is almost always "home sweet home" for the Seward County Lady Saints and this year it has remained the same, but Saturday night in Independence, the Lady Saints troubles away from the friendly confines of Liberal continued as Seward fell 76-73 in overtime to Independence, dropping their third road game in their last four outings. 

The new year started off well for the Lady Saints as they jumped out to a quick 7-2 and then 16-8 lead on the Pirates in the first quarter.  Independence fought back, closing Seward's lead to three in the waning moments of the quarter before a three pointer rimmed in for Clitan de Sousa to give the Lady Saints a 19-13 lead over the Pirates after one. 

Seward's success continued into the second quarter as they pounded the ball in to Joanna Grymek in the paint to extend their lead to 26-18 four minutes in.  Later in the quarter, a steal by Tiani White and a dish to de Sousa for two gave the Lady Saints their first double digit lead of the game at 30-20.  A 5-0 Independence run cut the Lady Saints lead in half, but an almost unheard of five point play for Samm Ashida pushed Seward's advantage back to 10 at 35-25 with 4:00 left in the first half.  Just when it looked like the Lady Saints had things under control, the Pirates flexed their muscles on their home floor.  Independence went on a 10-0 run over the next 3:30, tying the game at 35 with under a minute remaining in the first half.  Seward regained the lead before the final horn of the half, but instead of a comfortable lead and momentum going to the break, they led the Pirates by just two, 39-37. 

The Lady Saints shot 46% in the half, but managed just 2 of 11 from beyond the three point line while struggling mightily from the free throw line at just 7 of 15.  Grymek led the Lady Saints with 13 first half points while de Sousa pitched in nine for the gals in green. 

Seward couldn't stretch their lead, but remained in front of the Pirates by five midway through the third quarter as de Sousa hooked up with Grymek for an easy two down low. Buckets continued to be at a premium in the final minutes of the third, but Seward was able to keep at arm's length from the Pirates, owning a 50-47 lead after three quarters of action.  

The Lady Saints would pay for not extending their lead more when they had the chance in the second and third quarters as Independence came out fired up for the fourth quarter and quickly erased Seward's three point lead going into the quarter while scoring the first 10 points of the period to take a 57-50 lead of their own.  Seward regained their footing, cutting the Independence lead back to three and picked up stops on three straight Pirate possessions, but the Lady Saints couldn't capitalize on their opportunities, turning the ball over on four straight trips down the court to allow Indy to remain up by three.  Another steal and score from White cut the Lady Saints deficit to just one with 3:11 left.  Independence pushed their lead back to three with a basket in the final minute when freshman Erin Richardson stepped into action for the Lady Saints, completing an old fashioned three point play at the free throw line to even the score at 63 with just 37 seconds remaining in regulation.  The Lady Saints elation was short lived as Independence knifed through the Seward defense for an easy two on their next trip down the floor to put the Pirates up 65-63 with less than 15 seconds left.  Seward raced the ball back the other way and a tear drop floater from White found the bottom of the net as everyone in the ICC Fieldhouse held their breath, tying the game at 65 and sending the game to overtime. 

With leading scorer Daniela Galindo already out of the game with an injury and third leading scorer Axelle Bernard fouled out for the night, Seward struggled to find a way to put the ball in the basket early in the overtime.  Independence got out to a 71-68 lead in the extra period and stretched their lead to four with a free throw to make it 72-68.  Another Grymek hoop got Seward to within two and Neidy Ocuane picked the perfect time for her first basket of the night, tying the game at 72 with 1:15 left on the clock.  After Independence retook the lead by two, Seward had a chance to knot the score back up at the line with 6.8 seconds left, but as they had all night, the free throws, were harder to come by for the Lady Saints as their name indicated as they managed just one of two from the stripe to remain down by one 74-73.  A quick Seward foul sent the Pirates to the line the other way and just like the Lady Saints drew it up, Indy missed both tries, however, not like the Lady Saints drew it up, they couldn't manage to grab the rebound despite a four on two advantage in the lane and Independence hauled in the rebound where another Seward foul sent the Pirates to the line where they converted both to make it a three point game.  A last second half court prayer by the Lady Saints was off the mark and just like that, the Lady Saints went down 76-73. 

The Lady Saints shot 46% overall in the game while holding Independence to just 29% from the field, but Seward was anemic from deep, going just 2 for 17 from three point land and seemingly worse from the free throw line where they shot just 44%, leaving 14 points at the line while watching Independence go 26 for 32 from the stripe in the win.  Grymek led Seward with a huge game, scoring a game high 26 points while also pulling down 10 rebounds for a double-double.  De Sousa also turned in a nice night for the Lady Saints, scoring 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting while grabbing 10 rebounds for a double-double of her own. 

The loss continues a puzzling streak for Seward against Independence, leaving the Lady Saints without a win over the Pirates for nearly 10 years.  The Lady Saints fall to 11-4 overall and 3-2 in Jayhawk Conference action and are now just 2-4 on the road in 2015-2016.  Independence picks up a much needed Jayhawk Conference victory, improving to 2-3 in conference play and 10-5 overall. 

The Lady Saints will now open a three game home stand over the next two weeks, starting with a 6:00 battle in the Greenhouse on Wednesday against Neosho County.  Free tickets are available courtesy of our buyout sponsor Sunflower Bank at their downtown Liberal location. 

#14 SEWARD COUNTY/INDEPENDENCE BOX SCORE