FT MYERS, Fla. (March 9, 2007) ' Rollins erased
a 13 point first half deficit and took the lead with two minutes
left, but Arkansas Tech had more answers down the stretch as the #6
Tars were bounced out of the NCAA Division II South Region
Tournament, 65-62 by the #3 Golden Suns on Friday.
Larissa McDonough and Jennifer Dyer each scored 10 points to
lead Rollins (24-7) with Jessica Barker, Ines Teuma and Staci Rossi
each chipping in eight. The Golden Suns (22-9) got 13 points from
Christy Mahan and 12 from Krishna Baker in the winning effort.
'We knocked down a lot more of our open shots in the second half
and were able to comeback,' said Rollins Head Coach Glenn Wilkes,
Jr.' 'I think we were a little tight in the first half, but
loosened up in the second half and played much better.'
Rollins came out firing, opening up a 6-2 lead after two minutes
of play. Arkansas Tech then used the inside-outside game of Baker
and Mahan to take the lead at 12-11 with 13:52 on the clock. The
Golden Suns held a 21-17 lead at the 10 minute mark, but rolled up
a 5-1 run to take the lead at 22-21. Back to back jumpers by Baker
on Tech's next two possessions sparked a 16-4 Suns run and gave
them a 37-24 lead in the first half's final minute. Rachael Workman
hit a lay-up for the Tars with eight ticks left in the half to make
the score 37-26 at the break.
Teuma scored in the Tars first possession of the second half
before both schools hit a funk as the next basket of the game came
on a Jennifer Catti jumper at the 16:54 mark. Rollins continued to
chop away at the Tech advantage and took a 46-45 lead at the 10
minute mark on a pair of Jennifer Dyer free throws. Teuma scored a
put back lay-up for Rollins to push the lead to two, but Baker hit
a three to knot the score at 48 with nine minutes left.
'At halftime, coach told us to just go out and play,' said
Rollins senior Larissa McDonough. 'I think we relaxed a little more
in the second half and were able to hit more of our shots.'
The two teams battled back and forth in the waning minutes as
the game sat deadlocked, 58-58 with just under three minutes left.
McDonough put the Tars up with a lay-up, but Tech scored five
unanswered points and took a 65-60 lead with 17 ticks on the clock.
Jessica Barker a hit clutch three to cut the lead to two and the
Tars caught a break when Lauren Dennis missed a pair from the
stripe after a Rollins foul. After a timeout with 1.9 second left,
Rollins drew up a play, but Tech snuffed it out and Rossi's
desperation three at the buzzer came up short.
Tech held a slight advantage on the boards, 37-35, but the Tars
out shot the Golden Suns 43 percent to 40 percent.
The loss ends Rollins' 2006-07 campaign with a record of
24-7.
