Davidson Sees W. Basketball SoCon Finals Slip Away in Closing Seconds, 64-63

Monday, March 11

Asheville, N.C.

3:00 p.m.

Davidson College

21-12

No. 1 Chattanooga (ESPN3)

29-3

Davidson

Chattanooga

Laura Murray made the all-tournament first team for the second year in a row.

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Davidson Sees W. Basketball SoCon Finals Slip Away in Closing Seconds, 64-63

3/11/2013 7:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Davidson suffered a heartbreaking 64-63 loss when Chattanooga hit a layup with eight ticks left in the final of the Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championship Monday afternoon in the U.S. Cellular Center.

Chattanooga (29-3) took its first lead of the second half in the final eight seconds when Kayla Christopher rolled in a layup off the Mocs' third offensive rebound in their last possession of the game. Davidson had the final shot, but it came up short as time expired.

Davidson gave up 21 offensive rebounds to the Mocs, who won their 19th straight game and improved to 14-0 all-time in the league championship game. UTC scored 23 second-chance points and pulled in 16 of their offensive rebounds in the second half.

Sophia Aleksandravicius led Davidson (21-12) with her third straight double-double and 19th of the season, scoring 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and pulling in 11 rebounds. Laura Murray scored 22 points, connecting on 4-of-5 three-pointers, for her second 20-point outing in a row. She and Barbara Sitton (career-best 10 rebounds) each dished out four assists.

Aleksandravicius and Murray were each named to the SoCon All-Tournament First Team. The senior forward averaged a double-double for the weekend (19.3 ppg / 11.7 rpg) and swatted away 14 shots, while shooting 57.5 percent in three games. Murray was just as good, going off for 19 points a game and hitting 47 percent from downtown.

Chattanooga's Ashlen Dewart led the Mocs with a double-double on 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Taylor Hall added 19. Dewart was named the SoCon Tournament MVP.

The Wildcats had their largest lead of the half at 38-27 on a pair of Sarah Davis free throws in the early stages of the second half. Chattanooga would chip away, using a 15-7 run to make it 45-42 and forcing the Wildcats to burn a timeout with 12:22.

Davidson pushed its advantage out to six (48-42) on Hannah Early's jumper and led by at least three the next several minutes until Taylor Hall's three-ball tied things up at 54-all with 6:13 on the clock. Four straight free throws by Murray and Katrin Chiemeka gave the lead back to the Wildcats before it was tied once more at 58 and 3:34 remaining.

Murray's three-pointer and a driving layup gave the 'Cats a 63-58 lead with 2:13 left, but UTC scored the last six points for the win.

The first half went back-and-forth starting with Chattanooga holding a 12-6 lead, before Davidson countered with a 9-0 spurt behind Murray's quick five points for a 15-12 lead.

Then tied at 18-all, Jasmine Calin sparked a 14-4 run on a bucket inside with just over six minutes left in the half and the 'Cats took control by heading into break up 32-25. A triple each from Murray and Chiemeka highlighted the run.

Davidson, which will wait to hear of its postseason news, closed the half hitting a sizzling 65 percent (13-of-20) and finished the game shooting 53.7 percent.

GAME NOTES: It was just the second time Davidson had reached the SoCon finals in program history … Aleksandravicius has 11 double-doubles in the last 15 games … the 'Cats fell to 14-20 all-time at the league tournament … for first time in school history, Davidson has back-to-back 20-win campaigns … the 20-point outing for Murray was her fourth of the season and 17th of her career.

SoCon All-Tournament Team

First Team
Raven Gary- App. State
Laura Murray- Davidson
Sophia Aleksandravicius- Davidson
Ashlen Dewart- Chattanooga
Taylor Hall- Chattanooga

Second Team
Anna Freeman- App. State
Kelsey Evans- Elon
Meredyth Frye- Ga. Southern
Taylor Reece- Samford
Alex Black- Chattanooga