GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Just as quickly as freshman
Kynzie Newman gave ACU new life late Friday night, Taniqua Ards and the Texas-Permian Basin Falcons snatched it away.
Newman hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to tie the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament quarterfinal game between ACU and UTPB at 68-68, but it was Ards who had the final say in the game as she hit a layup with 2.6 seconds left to give her team a 70-68 win and the right to advance in the tournament.
The Wildcats finish their final season as an NCAA Division II member at 21-7. The Falcons, meanwhile, move on to the regional semifinals where they will take on top-seeded Colorado Mesa on Saturday at Brownson Arena on the Colorado Mesa University campus.
ACU trailed 66-62 with 2:47 to play, and the Wildcats missed four straight shots over the next two minutes and still trailed by four points inside 40 seconds to play. Senior center
Kelsey Smith, however, converted an old-fashioned three-point play to cut UTPB's lead to 66-65 with 28 seconds to play.
After Giselle Loya hit a pair of free throws to make it 68-65 with 17 seconds to play, the Wildcats got the ball into Newman's hands and she buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to knot the game at 68-68. But UTPB point guard Teisha King took the inbounds pass and sprinted straight up the middle of the floor toward the goal and then dished off to Ards at the last minute. She hit the layup and was fouled by
Renata Marquez with 2.6 seconds to play.
Ards missed the free throw, but the rebound went out of bounds off the Wildcats and the Falcons were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock to take the win.
The Wildcats were 7 of 13 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half, and that helped them to a 40-36 lead. ACU led by as many as 12 points in the half (20-8) before Permian Basin ripped off a 13-0 run to take a 21-20 lead. ACU, though, answered and regained the lead and held onto it through the end of the first half.
ACU shot 15 of 33 from the field in the first half and held its own on the boards against a physical UTPB team, going to the break having been out-rebounded only 21-19 in the opening half.
But the second half was a different story for the Wildcats, who hit just 11 of 31 shots from the field (1 of 7 from 3-point range) and were out-rebounded 29-21 in the second half.
The Wildcats' biggest lead of the second half was 54-47 after
Sadie Dickinson scored with 12:38 remaining.
UTPB would then go on a 13-2 run powered by Briannah Matthews, who scored seven points including a three-point play, as the Falcons went up 60-56 with 9:15 remaining.
Renata Marquez and Smith helped keep it close before Smith converted a three-point play on a driving layup with 27.3 left to make it 66-65.
Dickinson had 16 points for the Wildcats, as did Smith, who also added 13 rebounds. Marquez had 13 point and
Mackenzie Lankford 11 for the Wildcats.
