Box Score
For the second time in three days, the Sewanee women's basketball team found themselves in a down-to-the-wire battle with an SCAC foe. And for the second time in three days, the Tigers found themselves on the short end of the battle, falling in the final seconds of a hard-fought game. On Sunday afternoon, the opponent was Rhodes and the final dagger was a pair of free throws with just two seconds left. Rhodes' Lakeya McGill nailed two from the charity stripe with just two ticks left to give the visiting Lynx a 64-63 victory over the Tigers. With the loss, Sewanee falls to 2-19 on the year and 0-13 in the SCAC. Rhodes moves to 8-13 overall and 5-8 in the conference.
It was a slow start for the Tigers, who took over five minutes to find the basket on Sunday. The visiting Lynx jumped out to a 7-0 lead before a lay up by Alex Ginsburg finally put Sewanee on the board. A 3-pointer by Rhodes' Sarah Womack pushed the Lynx lead to eight, 10-2, but the Tigers finally started to find the basket and Dani Kabbes knocked down a lay up, followed by back-to-back 3-pointers by Dee Bradford, as Sewanee cut the Lynx lead to three, 13-10.
The two teams traded scores over the next several minutes as the Lynx lead wavered between five and eight points. The Tigers managed to cut the difference to just two, 30-28, with 1:12 left in the half after a 10-4 run. Amy Handelman hit a lay up in the paint to make it 32-28 Rhodes as the half wound down, but Claire Elliott responded for the Tigers, getting a jumper of her own to make it 32-30, Lynx. McGill hit a jumper with four seconds left in the frame to make the halftime score 34-30.
Rhodes pushed their lead to as many as 11 early in the second half after they opened the period with a 7-0 run. Sewanee managed to get the difference down to five after a couple of 3's from Dana Middleton and Logan Miller, but the Lynx managed to maintain an eight-point lead until the 8:34 mark of the half.
Sewanee got another set of back-to-back 3-pointers, this time from Elliott and Miller, to ease the lead down to just two, 52-50, with 5:09 remaining in the game. Rhodes got a lay up and a pair of free throws to move their lead back to six, 56-50, but Sewanee wouldn't stay down for long. Miller nailed another three for the Tigers, followed by baskets by Elliott and Ginsburg, as Sewanee chipped away at the Rhodes lead, eventually chopping it to just one, 58-57.
The Tigers took their first lead of the game with just 1:39 left in the game when Dana Middleton nailed a 3-pointer to give Sewanee a two-point lead, 60-58. Rhodes answered with a trey of their own, this one from Sarah Womack, to take back a one-point edge, 61-60, before Lakeya McGill hit one of two from the free throw line to push it to 62-60 Rhodes.
Middleton came through again for the Tigers, this time with just 11 seconds left. She nailed another 3-pointer to give Sewanee a slight one-point lead, 63-62, over the Lynx as time was winding down. But the Tigers picked up a foul with just two seconds left and McGill hit a pair at the free throw line to tie the game at 63-63 with her first freebie, and then win it 64-63 with her second.
Middleton, who was 4 of 9 from the 3-point line, finished the night with 16 points and four assists. Elliott added 15 points, while Miller chipped in nine. Paige Lowe, Alex Ginsburg, and Dee Bradford each finished with six. Dani Kabbes had a huge night on the boards, finishing with 18 rebounds, while adding six assists and two blocks.
Rhodes' McGill led all scorers with 18 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the free throw line. Handleman finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds, while Jamie Maxey chipped in 13 points and 11 boards.
The Tigers finished the night 21 of 68 from the field, good enough for a 30.9% clip. They were 14 of 40 from the 3-point line (35%) and 7 of 9 from the free throw line (77.8%). Rhodes was 23 of 63 from the field (36.5%), 6 of 18 from the 3-point line (33.3%), and 12 of 13 from the line (92.3%). The Lynx held a slim margin in rebounding, 45-44. Sewanee turned the ball over just six times, while forcing Rhodes into nine mishandles.
The Tigers are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Oakwood College for a non-conference clash at 6 p.m.
