SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Urbana University women’s basketball team fell 81-72 at Notre Dame College Saturday afternoon in the final game of the regular season.
UU (12-14, 10-12 MEC) ends the season tied with Fairmont State, Shepherd and Wheeling Jesuit for fifth place in the final league standings. After the tiebreaker, UU ends up with a seventh seed in this week’s Mountain East Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament (Feb. 28 – March 4), hosted at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, W. Va.
STAT LEADERS
Sylvia Hudson produced her seventh double-double Saturday with 20 points and 10 boards to lead the way. The sophomore forward scored 12 in the second half and finished 9 of 15 overall from the floor. Senior Stefanie Davis (16) and junior Erin Morrow (15) also reached double figures in scoring. Davis filled the stat sheet, as usual, with five assists, five boards and three steals. Morrow lit up the net in 23 minutes off the bench, shooting a perfect 7 of 7 from the floor while grabbing six boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UU led for nearly eight minutes in the first quarter, going ahead by as many as seven when Davis’ layup at the four minute-mark made it 11-4. However, NDC overcame its slow start and responded by working its way back for a 19-17 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
The host Falcons kept their lead intact at the start of the second period, working their way to a double-digit advantage when a layup at 6:44 put NDC up 31-21.
Shortly after, Morrow entered the game and ignited a Blue Knight comeback. The 5-foot-10 forward scored seven consecutive points on a pair of jumpers and a 3-pointer to get UU within a point, 33-32, with under four minutes to go until halftime. UU’s 17-4 run carried on during the final minutes of the half as back-to-back buckets from Davis and Hudson regained the lead for UU, 38-35. However, NDC responded with a trey right before the buzzer to even the score at 38-38.
Then, the momentum for the Blue Knights disappeared as the Falcons came storming out of the locker room with back-to-back threes. NDC eventually built a 12-point lead in the third and led the entire second half. UU got within three with a under a minute left in regulation as Davis knocked down a pair of free throws, but a dagger three on NDC’s next possession put the game out of reach.
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS
NDC outscored UU 26-16 on points off turnovers, including 10-2 in the third quarter, as the Blue Knights gave the ball up on 18 occasions compared to 14 turnovers committed by the Falcons.
UP NEXT
The Blue Knights will play 10th-seeded Charleston (12-16, 8-14 MEC) in the opening game of the tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 28 with a noon tip-off time.
UU and UC split the regular-season series with both teams winning on the road. The Blue Knights cruised past the Golden Eagles 73-57 on their last trip to Charleston on Dec. 6. 2017, while UC claimed a 60-52 victory in the most recent meeting on Jan. 24 in Urbana. Both squads have also met in the postseason once before as UC eliminated UU in the 2014 quarterfinals, 72-64, in Charleston.
UU will be making its fourth appearance at the MEC Tournament, where it holds a 2-3 record, after missing out on last year’s event.
