SEWANEE, Tenn. – Sylvia Kahoro's driving layup with 15.1 seconds remaining put Berry ahead for good and Sewanee missed a pair of shots and committed one turnover in the final seconds, with the Tigers dropping a 55-52 decision to the Vikings in women's basketball action Sunday in Mt. Berry, Ga.
Olivia Falvey and
Kayla Antoine each scored 16 points to lead the Tigers (6-18, 4-9 SAA), who Falvey putting Sewanee ahead briefly in the final 30 seconds on a layup, but Kahoro answered with a basket on the other end and the Tigers were not able to score again despite multiple chances. Sewanee lost both games over the weekend by a combined eight points, one of those in double overtime. The team's last five contests have been decided by a combined 19 points.
Faith Humphrey made 1-of-2 free throws to open the fourth quarter, pulling the Tigers within, 40-39, but Kenadie Lee and Elly Callihan each connected on 3-pointers and Lee added two free throws for a 48-39 advantage for the Vikings (16-8, 10-3) with 5:29 to play.
Antoine's basket on the next possession ended an almost five-minute scoring drought for Sewanee and was the first field goal in nearly seven minutes dating to the third quarter.
Cydney Wright and Shea Conn added one free throw and Wright posted a layup, pulling the Tigers within, 48-45.
Lee connected on another three for Berry, but Antoine answered with a layup and Humphrey netted one more foul shot, making it 51-48 Vikings with 2:29 remaining. Neither team could score over the next minute-plus and the complexion of the game changed with 1:23 remaining after a defensive rebound by Humphrey, who was tied up near the foul line.
The held ball got heated between the two players and the rest of their teammates on the court, leading to pushing and shoving and after a long discussion, two players ejected from both teams, including Antoine and Wright for the Tigers.
Sewanee got a stop on the defensive end and Conn made a layup on the other end, pulling the Tigers within a point with just under a minute to play. Kahoro missed two foul shots for the Vikings and Falvey's layup with 27 seconds remaining gave the Tigers a brief lead.
But Kahoro raced up the floor and made a driving layup off the glass for a one-point Berry lead. Conn missed a lefthanded layup try and
Brianna Keating-Rendon's 3-pointer from the corner was off the mark as well.
Lauren Ellard made 1-of-2 free throws for Berry with 3.0 seconds on the clock, giving Sewanee one last chance, but the inbounds pass from midcourt went out of bounds off Sewanee and the Vikings added one more foul shot in the final second for the last point.
Antoine added 12 rebounds, her 12
th double-double of the season. Lee paced the Vikings with 18 points while Callihan netted 11 and Kahoro finished with 10.
The Tigers fell behind 7-2 to start the game but a basket by Antoine and a 3-pointer from Falvey knotted the game at seven. Callihan answered with her second triple of the quarter for the Vikings and Lee made a layup and two free throws for a 16-10 Berry advantage after one period.
Neither team scored for the first three minutes of the second quarter until an old-fashioned 3-point play by Lee at the 7:02 mark of the period. Antoine's layup on the next Sewanee possession ended the scoring drought and Humphrey made back-to-back 3-pointers, cutting the deficit to 21-18.
Layups by Wright and Antoine tied the game at 22 with a minute left in the half and Falvey drilled a three in the last 10 seconds of the period for a 26-22 Tigers advantage, ending a 16-3 run by Sewanee over the last seven minutes of the quarter.
Antoine scored nine points and Falvey added eight while Lee led the Vikings with seven points.
Sewanee ends the regular season Wednesday at Centre College and will play a quarterfinal game in the SAA Championships next Sunday against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.
