DURANT, Okla. – Down seven points with 2:12 to play, things were looking grim for the Southern Nazarene women's basketball team in the Great American Conference Championship game against Southeastern Oklahoma State. This is March, so the final two minutes were pure madness. SNU's stunning 9-0 run to close the title game gave the Crimson Storm its first GAC Championship in program history with a final tally of 58-56.
Four straight turnovers and 0 field goal attempts in the final 2:12 for Southeastern gave Southern Nazarene an unexpected breath of life that head coach
Trent May and company took full advantage of. A
Cassandra Awatt layup and a couple of
Payton Jones' free throws cut the deficit to 56-53 with 1:07 to play, before SNU's defense forced an offensive foul with 39 seconds left. Jones hit the biggest 3-pointer of her young career with 23 seconds left to tie it 56-56 before the Savage Storm turned it over again with 10 seconds on the clock.
SNU devised a well-designed play for a good 3-point look for Awatt as she was hacked on the arm by Southeastern's Jordan Benson to send the sophomore to the charity stripe with 2 seconds remaining. After Awatt knocked down 2-of-3, a
Kennedy Gillette steal on the inbounds pass all but sealed it for the Crimson Storm as they stormed the court in celebration. Welcome to March Madness.
The conference championship is the first for Southern Nazarene since joining NCAA Division II and the program's first tournament title since the 2010-11 season as members of the SAC in the NAIA.
16 forced turnovers for SNU made all the difference in the game as their stifling defense led to 17 points scored off the Savage Storm giveaways. Southeastern shot 45.5 percent from the field on their home floor while Southern Nazarene converted just 35.7 percent of their field goals. SNU had 12 more field goal attempts than Southeastern and went to the free-throw line six more times. The Crimson Storm controlled the offensive glass which paid dividends as their 14 second-chance points blew the game wide open.
SNU turned the ball over just 10 times, their fewest since late January, as they also blocked six shots on the defensive end. The Crimson Storm shot made just 3-of-15 (20%) from behind the arc, and converted 15-of-21 (71.4%) from the free-throw line. Southeastern outscored SNU 32-24 in the paint, but the Crimson Storm dished out one extra assist. The GAC finale featured eight ties and six lead changes and had everyone in attendance on the edge of their seats.
Sophomore
Cassandra Awatt was named the GAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the Crimson Storm offensive attack with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the floor. She also pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds, dished out two assists, and swiped away two steals. Awatt was one of three Crimson Storm scorers in double figures as senior
Abby Niehues tallied 16 points while
Payton Jones finished with 14. Niehues was an efficient 6-of-8 from the field with three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks while Jones pulled down six rebounds, collected two steals and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
Kennedy Gillette added five points, but contributed in other areas with some solid defense all afternoon long.
Georgia Adams chipped in two points, two rebounds, and two assists off the SNU bench as well.
Joining Awatt on the GAC All-Tournament Team was Jones and Niehues.
It took Southern Nazarene a bit to shake off their nerves in the opening quarter as they shot just 28.6 percent from the floor and 0-for-6 from downtown. Southeastern shot 41.7 percent on their home floor, but SNU forced turnovers and faced just a 14-12 deficit after 10 minutes. SNU's offense picked up in the second stanza as they posted a 40 percent clip and traded leads with the Savage Storm. An Awatt triple gave SNU a 28-23 lead with 1:46 left in the opening half, but Southeastern closed the period on a 5-0 run to things up at 28-28 heading to recess.
Southern Nazarene's defense flexed their muscles coming out of halftime as they held Southeastern to 27.3 percent from the floor in the third quarter. Midway through the period, a Niehues bucket gave the Crimson Storm a 36-30 lead before the Savage Storm got a couple of field goals to make it 36-34 with 2:00 to play in the third. After both teams got a few more buckets, Southern Nazarene took a 40-38 advantage into the final period.
Southeastern came out firing in the fourth quarter as they finished the final 10 minutes by making 6-of-8 field goals. After Awatt picked up her fourth foul early in the fourth, the Savage Storm got aggressive inside with Katie Branum. She got multiple buckets in the paint and pushed the Savage Storm lead to 56-49 with 2:11 left. The final minutes were pure chaos as Southern Nazarene completed the epic comeback to claim the GAC title.
The Crimson Storm will now head to Canyon, Texas for the NCAA Division II South Central Regional. They will learn their opponent during Sunday night's selection show that streams at 9:00 p.m. on NCAA.com.
