Northwestern State Advances to NCAA Tournament with Tournament Title
Southland Conference
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY | HIGHLIGHTS | REPLAY | BRACKET | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
KATY, Texas – For the second straight year, Northwestern State will carry the conference banner into the NCAA Tournament.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Beatrice Attura scored 19 points off the bench as the sixth-seed Lady Demons completed their four-day sprint with a 58-50 win over a game eight-seed Houston Baptist University at Merrell Center on Sunday, giving Northwestern State their second straight Women’s Basketball Tournament championship, the first time the program has achieved the feat.
“I’m incredibly proud of the fight in this group,” said Lady Demons co-coach Brooke Stoehr, who helped Northwestern State (19-14) to its fourth conference tournament crown. “Their execution and their ability to go back to the simple things that we work on in practice every single day was tremendous.”
The tourney’s first final between a sixth and eighth seed showed at times during the game, as both teams, weary from four straight days of basketball, displayed signs of fatigue, yet the Lady Demons found an extra burst of energy during a 10-4 run early in the second half that gave them a 40-29 lead with 12:22 remaining.
HBU (15-18) also managed to gather itself, as the Huskies, behind seven straight points from Erin McGarrachan, closed to within 40-36 at the 8:33 mark, yet could not get the extra basket or two to draw close.
“I could feel my legs in the first half and tell it was the fourth game, but the adrenaline was going in the second half and you’re doing everything you can do win, so being tired is the last thing on your mind,” said McGarrachan, who finished with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Attura, who averaged 16.5 points per game in the tourney, sealed the victory with a driving layup with 1:35 remaining, while fellow all-tournament member Janelle Perez sank six free throws in the final 58 seconds to deny any chance of another miracle comeback for the Huskies.
“Every team so far played us in man (defense), and I think that’s favorable for me just because I’m more of a one-on-one player,” said Attura, who also added four rebounds and an assist. “If you can just pull up and hit a shot, then it works if you can get past your first defender.”
The Lady Demons did a stellar job in containing the transition attack of the Huskies, allowing them just four fast break points less than 24 hours after HBU ran wild on top-seed Stephen F. Austin. Forced to play more of a half-court game, the Huskies shot just 31.7 percent from the field.
“We kind of wimped out a little bit on our shots,” said HBU coach Donna Finnie. “Instead of going hard to the basket, we were avoiding the contact. We made (the shots) all week, and we didn’t make them today.”
HBU’s long-range game failed to show up as well, as the Huskies – who connected on eight 3-pointers on Saturday – hit just one of their 11 attempts from beyond the arc. Northwestern State’s ability to throttle the Huskies’ offense was the result of the Northwestern State coaching staff providing a blueprint on how to stop it.
“Our players’ ability to retain information and grasp the scouting report and then go out and execute it is better than any group I’ve ever been around,” said Stoehr.
Perez finished with 12 points, including all eight of her free throw attempts, while Tia Youngblood added 10 points for the Lady Demons, who also got nine points and 10 boards from Chelsea Rogers. Anna Strickland had 11 points and 13 rebounds for HBU.
Attura and Perez were joined on the all-tournament team by SFA’s conference player of the year Porscha Roberts and by HBU’s McGarrachan and Tayler Jefferson.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Northwestern State
Co-Head Coach Brooke Stoehr
Opening Statement…
“First, I think you have to congratulate [Houston Baptist head coach] Donna [Finnie] and her staff and that team that took the floor today. What an unbelievable run they just had in this tournament. That’s what March Madness is all about. You could see some fatigue and maybe a little nerves from both teams today. I’m incredibly proud of the fight in this group. Their execution and ability to go back to the simple things that we work on during practice every single day was tremendous and I couldn’t be more proud of our group. We just focused on getting the first one then moving on to the next one and they were unbelievable this week. I’m really proud and honored to be their coach.”
On Northwestern State’s offense…
“HBU continued to fight. We knew they were going to execute against the zone. They are very well coached and the pass the ball very well, they don’t just settle for 3s. They forced us to make mistakes and I thought they did a great job. I think down the stretch, our ability to execute on the offensive end we had about four or five stops in a row.”
Junior Guard Janelle Perez
On making free throws late in the game…
“I just try to tune everything out and do everything I can for my team. I just tried to get the ball in my hands and stretch the time. I didn’t want to get fouled, I wanted the clock to run out. I’ve been in that situation and we all have so you just have to stay could and shoot like you do every day in practice.”
Sophomore Guard Beatrice Attura
On her tournament…
“I didn’t travel to Nicholls and I bought the game from Nicholls’ website to watch the game. I watched our team and it didn’t look like us, it didn’t look like Northwestern State basketball. We were struggling at that point. Seeing that was really humbling being the defending champs. When I got back, I wanted to do anything I could to help our team. I just started attacking.”
On the defense they faced…
“Every team played us in man-to-man defense and that’s favorable to me because I’m more of a one-on-one player. HBU did a good job with its help side, but if you can pull up and hit a shot then that works.”
Head Coach Donna Finnie
Opening Statement…
“We had great looks in the second half and we just didn’t seem to finish shots that we had all week and I thought we did get good looks. I just think we kind of wimped out a little bit on those shots, instead of going hard to the basket we were avoiding the contact. Like I said we made them all week, we didn’t make them today and I credit Northwestern State. They played so hard together, their offense they move the ball so well. They are always looking for each other and Janelle Perez is on a different level, she really is special. I know I’ve talked to Coach Stoehr before the game and she told me what a great kid she is as well. She really did a great job for them today leading her team down the stretch and hitting big free throws.”
Senior Forward Erin McGarrachan
On playing four games in four days…
“I think I felt my legs in the first half. I can feel this is the fourth game but adrenaline is going on in the second half and we were just giving everything to win so being tired is the last thing on your mind.”
Senior Guard Taylor Jefferson
On playing four games in four days…
“I don’t think it was tiredness but like Coach said, I think it was a mentality thing. Like we went into the game knowing that they were smaller and at times on the court it didn’t feel like all five of us were looking to be a threat. We were just relying to go inside and we were watching and missing shots that we were hitting [earlier in the tournament]. I went 0-for-8. We had layups roll out. [Northwestern State] hit, we didn’t. I don’t think it was us being tired. We just didn’t finish.”