#19 Women's Basketball Season Stopped in Sweet 16 By #6 Washington (MO)
By: Jeff Zupanic
The comeback kids almost went into another hostile environment and stole another game.
Facing another tradition-rich opponent on the road didn't seem to faze Mount Union. Not even the sight of all the national championship banners seemed intimidating enough to give a young team making its first appearance in the Sweet 16 in more than a decade a deer in the headlights look.
The Purple Raiders fought, clawed and scrapped with a Bears team that has four national titles and two second-place finishes in the last three seasons.
They just got out-played over a small stretch in the second half and suffered a 76-57 setback.
They didn't back down at all.
In fact, they showed they could play with last year's national runner-up. Washington University (26-2) used its tournament experience and a defensive change to open up a double-digit lead with 4:34 left in the game.
“They started switching the screens and we couldn't get any open looks,” Mount Union head coach Suzy Venet said. “When a team switches on you, you think you have a mismatch with a post player against a guard but not against a big and long team like them.”
The Bears used their size, which featured four players 5-11 or taller, to alter shots and deflect passes. Mount Union finished with 22 turnovers, most of which came in the crucial second-half spurt that ultimately decided the game.
Prior to the 23-7 run, the Purple Raiders scored the first seven points of the second half and grabbed a 43-39 lead. They led 50-47 with 13:11 remaining before a damaging cold spell doomed them.
“We were aggressive and hit our shots then they made the adjustment (to switch the screens),” said Venet.
Washington University scored 10 straight points and what was once a three-point advantage become a 57-50 deficit. The Bears didn't stop there. They scored 15 of the next 22 points to put the game away.
The first half was a neck-and-neck battle with 11 lead changes and neither holding more than a four-point advantage. Both teams went after each other in different manners. The smaller, quicker Purple Raiders (26-5) used their motion offense to create outside shots while the taller Bears got virtually all of their points in the paint.
Washington University held a 26-8 advantage inside but couldn't separate themselves due to Mount Union's 6-of-11 effort from behind the arc. The Purple Raiders also used their quickness to get to the foul line 10 times to the Bears' six trips.
A potential disastrous situation was avoided late in the first half when Mount Union had three of its starters were relegated to the bench due to foul trouble. Senior Tessa Pohovey and sophomores Amanda Rose and Kori Wiedt all picked up two fouls in a span of four minutes before halftime and could only watch the remainder of the half.
“We played a lot of players in that first half, probably more than I ever have this season (due to the fouls),” Venet said. “But they were all ready and I thought we got good production off the bench from Kelly (Evans) with six points and Erin Schmidt had six rebounds in the first half.”
Washington University led 35-34 at the time of Wiedt picking up her second foul and only outscored Mount Union by two points and held a 39-36 advantage at the break.
Both teams were shooting lights out in the opening 20 minutes.
The Bears hit 16-of-35 (45.7 percent) from the field while the Purple Raiders cooled off a bit in the latter stages due to the lineup changes but still hit 12-of-32 from the floor.
Washington University's Zoe Unruh had a game-high 23 points as the Bears had four players in double figures. Jaimie McFarlin and Janice Evans each scored 14 points while Claire Schaeperkoetter added 10 points.
Pohovey finished with 17 points before fouling out of her final game. Wiedt also reached double figures with 10 points as nine different Purple Raiders scored.
“I am proud of how far we have come (in the last four years),” said Pohovey. “The faster style we played made us a better team than we were when I got here.”
