The first set of games from the 2007 O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Mens and Womens Basketball Tournament were played last night, and there were comebacks and even an upset on the women's side of the court. Here is a brief recap of all the action from the women's tournament.
#1 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 58, #8 AUSTIN PEAY 54
(CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.-ConState Sports) The defending 2006-2007 OVC tournament champion SEMO Redhawks faced a bit of a struggle against the Lady Governors, but managed to prevail. Ashley Lovelady led SEMO with 20 points and six rebounds. SEMO jumped out to an early 11-5 lead, but the Lady Govs stayed close, and the score read 30-28 SEMO at the midway break. SEMO now goes to Nashville to attempt a repeat of its OVC title.
#2 MURRAY STATE 68, #7 EASTERN KENTUCKY 66
(MURRAY, Ky.-ConState Sports) The number two-seeded Murray Racers survived a close scare, as the EKU Colonels put up a strong fight to attempt the upset. Ashley Hayes led the way for the Racers with 26 points, including the two free throws with 0.4 seconds left in regulation. Murray trailed by two late when freshman guard Mallory "Lucky" Luckett put in the tieing points with 14.9 seconds left. EKU had a shot, missed and Hayes was fouled, giving her the opportunity to get the winning points. Its on to Nashville for Murray, where the Racers will try to advance to the OVC finals.
#6 UT MARTIN 61, #3 MOREHEAD STATE 57
(MOREHEAD, Ky.-ConState Sports) In a surprising upset, the Martin Skyhawks found a way to top the three-seeded Morehead Eagles. The Eagles went cold in shooting, getting only 38 percent of their shots to go in. Martin was up as much as 49-38 with 9:21 left, when the Eagles attempted a failing comeback bid. Martin led most of the way through this game, leading by six with 8:57 left in the first. Morehead came back and led 23-22 with 5:48 left before the break. Martin came back and led at halftime 31-28. Martin goes to Nashville and will attempt to test No. 2 Murray State on Friday.
#4 SAMFORD 63, #5 TENNESSEE TECH 60
(BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-ConState Sports) The Samford Bulldogs came out strong from the gate, and held off a huge comeback attempt by the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles to advance to the semifinal round. Samford took the early 8-0 advantage with 3:19 gone in the first after Alex Munday put in a three. The Golden Eagles continued with fairly cold shooting and several crucial turnovers early, and found themselves down 29-15 at the halftime break.
Tech recovered strongly and put this one back into play after a quick 12-2 run right from the get-go in the second half. Cara Reed put up a three to cut the Bulldogs lead to 31-27 with 16:28 to play. The Golden Eagles came all the way back and led 39-37 after Blair Bowens put in a shot with 12:44 to go. Tech senior Kendall Cavin put in a three to give Tech the 49-45 lead with 6:13 left. The game bounced around from there. Samford would comeback to tie it, 51-51, before jumping ahead 54-51. The Golden Eagles would then score the next four points to take a 55-54 advantage with 2:40 left. Samford shot four from the charity stripe to take a three-point lead with 1:38 left. The Bulldogs held a four-point lead, 61-57, with 19 seconds left. Tech put in a three to cut Samford to 61-60, but Megan Wilderotter put in a pair from the charity line to prove the winning difference. Tech had another opportunity at the basket, but the shot just didn't go in. The Bulldogs now go to Nashville to oppose the top-seeded SEMO Redhawks. Munday scored 20 to lead Samford. For Tennessee Tech, senior standout Kendall Cavin and Blair Bowens put in 19 points apiece.
This was the final game played in the 45-year-old Seibert Hall. Next year, the Bulldogs will play in Pete Hanna Arena.
SEMO is the favorite to win the OVC women's tournament this year. An upset bid could be done by Murray, but I wouldn't really count on it. The team to watch next year is our own Tennessee Tech, the regular-season co-champions of the OVC in the 2005-06 season. Tech is the winningest OVC women's program over the course of history, and among the top ten winningest Division I women's programs in history. Tech is, also, the team who has won the most OVC titles with nine from its first title in the 1981-82 season. The Golden Eagles are bouncing back from the loss of standout Emily Christian, a senior last year, as well as dealing with a coaching change. The 20-year head coach Bill Worrell retired after last season, and one of his assistant coaches, Amy Brown, was handed the job. Brown has done an outstanding job in her first season, and her assistant coaching staff is strong as well. Tech will deal with the loss of three senior players, led by Cavin, in next years season. However, two new sophomore transfers, former Vanderbilt standout Holly Rogers and former Ball State player Rebecca Howerton, should pick up a lot of the slack. We, also, have three good players who will be seniors next season in Cara Reed, Marissa Hensley and Kristina Tyler. Juniors should be strong as well, led by Meagan Lyons and Bowens. Whitney Mayo and Jennifer Hood, who will be sophomores, should step up quite a bit. New freshmen will be added to the mix as well. Look for Tennessee Tech to contend strongly for the No. 1 seed in the 2007-08 OVC season.
Thanks to the OVC for information used in the above game summaries.
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