Lady Saints fall to Gulf Coast State in Quarterfinals; Finish 5th in Country

LUBBOCK, Texas – For the second straight year the Seward County women's basketball team's season ended at the hands of Gulf Coast State in the Quarterfinals of the NJCAA National Tournament.  The Commodores defeated the Lady Saints 79-65 inside the Rip Griffin Center Thursday night.

Gulf Coast State flexed their muscle in the early going of the first quarter, jumping out to a 7-2 lead, taking advantage of missed Lady Saint shots to go on the early run. Seward slowly, but surely, fought back into the game, eventually taking the lead with a corner three-pointer from Sidney Tinner to make it 13-11 with just over two minutes left in the quarter. The Commodores turned around a hit a three on their next possession to retake the lead and eventually taking a 17-14 lead into the second quarter.

The Lady Saints fell behind six points quickly in the second quarter, but another Tinner three started a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to just one point. As would be the rest of the night, the Commodores had an answer, extending their lead to four points with three minutes to play.  Seward turned on their defense at and held the Gulf Coast scoreless the remainder of the quarter, while going on a 5-0 run to take a 29-28 lead into halftime.

Neither team shot well in the first half with the Lady Saints shooting 33.3 percent (11-33) from the floor and the Commodores shooting 31.0 percent (9-29). Seward shot 28.6 percent (4-14) from deep, while Gulf Coast shot 36.4 percent (4-11). 

The Commodores opened up the second half with an 8-0 run before Brennyn Seagler scored the first points of the quarter with a three pointer to make it 36-32 with 7:25 left in the third. From there on out, it was all Gulf Coast as the Lady Saints couldn't retake the lead despite their best efforts.  Gulf Coast took a thirteen point lead into the final quarter of play, 56-43.

The Lady Saints had a chance to cut the lead to seven points with just under six minutes to play, but a deep Amy Scott three missed its mark.  A possession later, Lexi Hernandez made a layup to make it 65-57, but a three pointer on the other end quickly switched the momentum back to the Commodores as they went on to extend their lead, winning 79-65.

Seward struggled shooting on the night, making just 35.9 percent (23-64) of their shots and 29.0 percent (9-31) from the floor. Gulf Coast's offensive explosion in the second half pushed their shooting total to 41.2 percent (28-68) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-24) from deep. 

Gulf Coast out-rebounded Seward by 16 rebounds and finished the night with 16 offensive rebounds.  The Lady Saints couldn't force turnovers like they were used to all season long, finishing with just six steals, down from their 15.7 steal per game average.

Silvia Veloso (15 pts) and Mollie Mounsey (11 pts) finished the night with double digit figures.  Mounsey also added nine rebounds, coming up just one shy of a double-double.  With the 11 points, Mounsey finishes her career as the second highest scorer in Lady Saints history, ending with 1,360 career points.

Seward finishes the season with a 31-4 overall record and a 5^th place national finish.  It marks back-to-back seasons that they Lady Saints finished in 5^th place.