Saturday, November 21, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont women's basketball team (3-0) needed an extra period to maintain its spotless record on Saturday night at the Curb Event Center. The Bruins battled to the wire in regulation and overtime to knock off visiting Alabama (2-2), 69-67. It marked the second time in three years BU defeated the Tide and narrowed UA's the all-time series lead to one, 4-3.

The matchup started slowly before Alabama jumped out to a 6-2 lead behind back-to-back jumpers by Tierney Jenkins. A triple by senior Kristin Bunch (Fayetteville, Ga.) closed the gap to one before Jenkins put the Tide back on top. Back-to-back treys from senior Amber Rockwell (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) and junior Shaunda Strayhorn (Dyersburg, Tenn.) gave the Bruins their first lead of the game, 11-8. Another back and forth battle ensued before Alabama put together an 8-0 run to expand its lead to 24-16, forcing the BU bench to call a timeout to regroup. After the brief break, Belmont began to play its game from behind the arc to get back into the contest. A huge three pointer from junior Tereva Moore (Memphis, Tenn.) with 6:29 left in the half sparked a BU rally and moved the team to within five, 27-22. Four minutes later, Moore drilled another trey to close the gap to three points, 29-26. Sophomore Crystal Kesler (Knoxville, Tenn.) hit one of her two attempts at the charity stripe and suddenly it was a one possession game, 29-27, with 2:11 on the clock. However, it would be Belmont's last points of the stanza and the Tide used a three-point play by Varisia Raffington to close the half. The teams went to the locker rooms with Alabama on top, 34-27.

The Bruins hustled to once again close the gap at the top of second stanza and put together a 7-3 run that made it a five point game after a triple from Rockwell. BU kept pushing and a three-point play from sophomore Haley Nelson (Scottsboro, Ala.) got the Bruin faithful on their feet as she helped to whittle the lead down to two, 41-39, with 14:29 left in regulation. Alabama was unable to stop the BU rally so it matched shot for shot as the contest surged toward the midway mark. At the 6:15 mark, the Bruins surged again, this time behind Nelson, who put together her own 5-0 run to give Belmont's its first lead since early in the opening half. A stunned Tide bench called a timeout. After a free-throw from Jenkins, Nelson found the bottom of the net again and was followed by a free-throw by Bunch extending BU's lead to four, 59-55. The Tide missed their next shot from the floor and Belmont took its time bringing the ball up the hardwood as time ticked into the final 60 seconds. BU defense stopped all Alabama attempts from outside but Dedrea Magee managed to push to the basket to add two points, closing the gap to two points. Strayhorn had a chance to put the game away for good with a trip to the stripe but uncharacteristically missed both with five seconds left. Alabama had one chance and put the ball back in Magee's hands who did not disappoint. She pushed into the paint and pulled up for a jumper to knot the game at 59 as time expired.

BU opened the extra period aggressively, taking the tip and claiming the first points of the extra period with a lay-up from Rockwell. Nelson remained on fire, grabbing a steal and hustling up the court for a fast break lay-up to put the Bruins on top, 63-59. Alabama finally picked up its first points of the period with an Ericka Russell jumper at the 2:51 mark. Raffington netted two crucial free-throws to knot the score at 63 with just over two minutes left in the extra period. The Tide was able to retake the lead, 65-63, on their next possession and pull ahead by four with a pair of free throws by Raffington. Rockwell tossed up a desperation three from the left side of the arc that miraculously found the bottom of the net to make it a one-point game, 67-66, with only four seconds left. Belmont called a timeout to draw up a defensive stop plan. Strayhorn broke loose and came up with a steal from deep in Alabama traffic and drove down the court for a lay-up, increasing the Bruin lead to 68-67 and moving the clock down to three seconds. The Tide's only option was to foul after turning the ball back over to the Bruins, sending Rockwell to the line with 1.1 ticks left on the clock. She missed the front end but delivered on the second, securing BU's 69-67 victory.