SALEM, Va. - The Hornets lost a heartbreaking championship game to Washington and Lee Sunday afternoon at the Salem Civic Center 89-80 in overtime. The Hornets were leading with .7 seconds on the clock before W&L hit the game-tying three at the buzzer. The play was reviewed, but the call on the floor stood, and the game headed to overtime. In the extra period the Generals outscored the Hornets 14-5. The Hornets were led by
Terese Greene's 31 points and
Maddie Kimble's 21 points. W&L will get the automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, and all the Hornets can do now is wait to see if they will receive an at-large bid.
HOW IT HAPPENED
W&L started the game with back-to-back triples to take an early 6-0 lead, but the Hornets fought back with a triple of their own from
Maddie Kimble before
Terese Greene hit a jumper to pull the Hornets back within one. The Generals hit another jumper, but then
Maddie Kimble drilled her second three of the game and the game was all tied at 8 with just over six minutes to play. Kimble then gave the Hornets their first lead at 10-8 with another jumper. With the score tied at 10, the Hornets went on a 6-0 run with a layup from
Gabby Krystofiak, free throws from
Terese Greene, and then another layup from Greene after
Kayla Maxson came up with a steal. W&L ended the quarter on a 6-0 run, but
Sydney Shepos rattled home a long jumper right before the first quarter ended. The Hornets took an 18-16 lead heading into the second.
Shawnise Campbell scored her first layup of the game just over a minute into the period to put the Hornets up one at 20-19. Another 7-0 run from the Generals gave the one seed a 26-20 lead but back-to-back baskets from Campbell and Kimble put the Hornets within striking distance, down two with just over six minutes to go in the half. W&L hit three straight triples, a converted free throw, and then a fourth three and jumper as the lead ballooned to 16, with time running out in the second. Four free throws from Greene stopped the scoreless streak and the Generals run, but one last jumper from the Generals and two more free throws from Kimble, found the Hornets down 43-31 as the final buzzer sounded in the half.
Both teams traded baskets early in the third as the Hornets cut the lead to 10 after a Kimble triple.
Shawnise Campbell's layup, Krystofiak's triple, and another
Terese Greene layup had the Hornets back within three points with just under six to go in the third. Another Kimble jumper and Greene layup and it was a 50-49 Generals lead with under five to go.
Emily Williams,
Terese Greene and
Gabby Krystofiak all made shots in the final two minutes of the quarter and Shenandoah was down one, 56-55 heading to the fourth.
Kayla Maxson gave the Hornets the lead for the first time since the first quarter. But as both teams continued to trade baskets, W&L regained the lead with just over six minutes to go in regulation at 63-61. The Generals held Shenandoah scoreless for nearly three and half minutes as the Generals lead was as the game was coming down to the wire. Nine straight points from
Terese Greene followed by
Gabby Krystofiak's layup put the Hornets up 72-70 with 28 seconds to go in regulation.
Maddie Kimble hit two free throws with 11 seconds left as the Hornets went up four. The Generals got a quick layup before fouling
Terese Greene. Greene split a pair of free throws and it was a five-point game with just seconds left. W&L called timeout to advance the ball, and for the second time this season, the Hornets watched the game-tying basket go in as the clock hit zero.
40 minutes was not enough to crown a champion and the winner of the automatic bid, so put five more minutes on the clock and the game went into overtime. Unfortunately, it was all Generals in the extra period, as W&L outscored the Hornets 14-5 in the extra frame to claim back-to-back ODAC Championships.
The Hornets will now tune in to the NCAA Selection Show to see if their resume was good enough to receive an at-large bid. Some key wins for the Hornets include, a regular season win over W&L, a win over Randolph-Macon, and a win over Southern Virginia. All teams that are regionally ranked or have made the tournament.
#GoSUHornets
