Thursday, March 04, 2010

MACON, GA. – Day two of the 2010 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Women’s Basketball Championship started with an overtime victory for Belmont, as the Bruins defeated the Kennesaw State Lady Owls, 70-65, in Mercer’s University Center.

Read the Atlantic Sun Insider Column associated with this game here.

The game saw 19 lead changes and 13 ties, eventually ending in overtime play. The contest stands as the first time a women’s game has gone into overtime since March 9, 2006 when the Mercer Bears defeated the ETSU Lady Bucs in a quarterfinal game, 59-56. The Bruins’ senior guard Amber Rockwell led all players with a game-high 20 points in 37 minutes. Also from Belmont, Second-Team All-Conference member Haley Nelson collected 16 points and 20 rebounds, marking the second time this season that the Scottsboro, Ala. native notched a game with 20 or more rebounds. For Kennesaw State, senior guard DeAndrea Bullock notched 16 points, to go along with nine boards, while freshman guard Brandi Jones and sophomore guard Angie Smith tallied 10 and 13 points respectively.

Free throws started and ended the tightly played contest, as senior center Montinique Nixon and senior guard Gia Lockett notched the first two from the charity stripe. KSU held Belmont without a field goal for nearly eight minutes on 0-7 shooting until Nelson had a wide-open layup and put the Bruins’ up by one, at 12:17 remaining in the first half. Belmont then forced a KSU turnover, followed by a 3-pointer from senior guard Kristin Bunch, opening the floodgates for 11-0 run for the Bruins. At halftime, the teams went into the locker rooms head-to-head at 30-all after a jumper by Smith.

Bullock opened up second-half play with a jumper, marking the fifth tie in the contest. The lead would change seven more times until less than a minute was left on the clock. With both teams tied at 61, each vying for a position in Friday’s game against the ETSU Lady Buccaneers, Rockwell hit a pair of free throws. KSU’s Lockett quickly answered with a jumper after an inadvertent whistle. Then, with 11.8 seconds left, junior guard Shaunda Strayhorn vied for a three at the end of regulation and misses, sending play into overtime.

Before tournament play, KSU won six of their final eight games, five of those wins came by four points or less, three finished as one-point victories. Kennesaw State left this momentum at the door, as Belmont’s Rockwell forced a huge turnover with less than 30 seconds remaining. In overtime, the Owls couldn’t keep the Bruins away from the charity stripe, as Belmont went 4-6 from field-goal range. A trio of free throws by Rockwell and Bunch sealed the win for the Bruins in the waning seconds.

Next, Belmont will face No. 1-seeded ETSU Friday at Noon. Tickets to all Championship games are available at MercerBears.com.

Fans can follow the Atlantic Sun on Twitter and on Facebook. Visit twitter.com/AtlanticSun to begin receiving updates on conference news, weekly awards, and from A-Sun championships. Atlantic Sun followers with a Facebook account can become a "fan" of the conference by visiting facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

A-SUN CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
* Belmont advances to the semifinals for the fourth time in the last five seasons. In four previous trips to that round, the Bruins own a 1-3 mark, defeating Gardner-Webb, 57-48 in 2007 as part of a run that ended with a title. * Thursday’s game marked the first overtime game in an A-Sun Women’s Championship game since March 9, 2006 when Mercer beat ETSU, 59-56. * Thursday’s game featured 13 ties and 19 lead changes.

BELMONT
* Second Team All-Atlantic Sun performer Haley Nelson registered her eighth double-double of the season, collecting 16 points and 20 rebounds. In her last game against the Owls (Sat. Feb 27), Nelson totaled only 4 points and 7 rebounds. * With 20 rebounds, Nelson recorded her fifth game with at least 15 rebounds, and her first since grabbing 15 at Lipscomb on Jan. 11 * Nelson’s holds the A-Sun Women’s Championship single-game 20-rebound record, accomplished most recently by Gardner-Webb’s Shameka Smith against Belmont on March 10, 2006. * Kirstin Bunch scored 13 points. In three games against the Owls this season, she averaged 17.0 ppg.

KENNESAW STATE
* Thursday’s game played out like many of the Owls games since February 1. In the last 10 games, seven were decided by five points or less. The Owls fall to 5-2 in those contests. * DeAndrea Bullock finished with 16 points one point off her season high of 17 (vs Evansville). * With 11 rebounds, Sametria Gideon recorded her 10th game with double-digit rebounds.