ADA – The East Central University women's basketball team fell to Southern Nazarene 49-51 in the final regular-season game of the 2014-15 season on the annual Senior Night at Kerr Activities Center. Despite the loss the Tigers (15-11, 11-9 GAC) secured the No. 4 seed at the 2015 Great American Conference tournament next week.
Photo GalleryECU was paced by senior
Dilan Webster, who garnered her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Senior
Erin Walling added 13 points and three boards.
Both teams started out cold shooting, with the Tigers being the first to score with 18:48 left in the first half. However, when the Crimson Storm (8-18, 5-15 GAC) got on the board they started a 7-0 run over the next 1:30 to take the lead.
ECU finally got going and countered with a 10-1 run over the next three minutes to take a 12-8 lead. Both teams then struggled to score for long stretches of the half, with ECU pushed out to a 22-15 lead with 5:18 left to play in the half. That is when SNU made a push and forced a tie at 26, with 20 seconds left in the half. The Tigers were able to get in one more free throw before the end of the stanza for a 27-26 lead.
The Crimson Storm then came out strong in the second half, using a 9-0 run in the first 7:30 minutes to take a 27-35 advantage. The Tigers kept things close throughout the half using a few runs in the middle of the stanza to pull back with in one (43-44). However, SNU hit a few late free throws to keep the advantage on their side of the board and held on for the 49-51 win.
ECU will now get ready for the 2015 GAC Tournament when they face No. 5 Arkansas-Monticello at 8 p.m., Thursday, March 5 at Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville, Okla.
