Falling hard to VSU, UAH women bounce back
Sara McMahan
February 19, 2013
Filed under Sports
The University of Alabama in Huntsville women’s basketball team fell hard to a last minute shot in the final moments against Valdosta State then bounced back defeating the University of West Florida on Saturday.
The Chargers faced Valdosta State last Thursday in an exciting contest to the finish. As the game came to a close, Baliee Robinson tied the game at 64 with only 49 seconds left. Natalie Kelley was the able to get the ball back for the chargers by swatting away VSU’s attempt on the ensuing possession. VSU then committed a foul, setting up Jordan Smith to knock down a free throw to put the Lady Chargers on top. UAHuntsville then put up a strong defense but was unable to hold off VSU’s Kamyia Smith from knocking down the team’s 13th three-pointer for the night, sealing the victory for VSU.
The Chargers had fought back from a VSU control first half and chipped away a 42-33 lead in the second half. They started off the second half strong with a 6-0 run to quickly turn the contest into a 3-point game at 42-39 just under two minutes in. Jasmine Hammon was able to lay it up to bring the contest within two at the 11:57 mark. VSU then hit consecutive treys to pull their lead to 59-51 with 9:34 left. A 7-1 run for the chargers would cut the lead back to two, and UAHuntsville managed to tie the game three times, including Robinson’s tying basket setting up the exciting finale.
Although the loss to VSU was hard fought, UAHuntsville bounced back to take down UWF. The Chargers fought back from an 18-point deficit to defeat the University of West Florida. The Chargers had trimmed UWF’s lead to 10, 51-41, with 15 minutes left in the contest. The Chargers then exploded with a 15-4 run, capitalized by a Shannon Steinert try with 9:15 left, putting the chargers up 56-55. This was the first time the Chargers held the lead since the opening minutes of the contest. The Lady Chargers pushed ahead by as many as 6 points down the stretch until UWF responded to tie the game at 71 with 46 seconds left in the game.
Jasmine Hammon then hit a key free throw to put the chargers on top 72-71. The Chargers would then face a very similar scenario as they had Thursday night. The Lady Chargers set up a strong defense for the final 14 seconds in the game. All could have come crashing down as UMF Hanna Vette attempted a trey from nearly the same spot as VSU’s final three as the final seconds ticked away. Her shot, although a good one with the potential to secure the win, bounced off the front of the rim, sealing the win for the Lady Chargers.
The Lady
