The SBU Lady 'Cats were defeated by the Barry University Buccaneers, 54-57, to conclude the Cruzin Classic held in Miami Shores, Florida. The Lady 'Cats fought back from a 9-point deficit with 15 minutes to play, but Amber Wheeler, going for the tie, missed a 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining. Her shot hit the backboard, bounced off the front of the rim, then to the floor as the buzzer sounded.
Wheeler, the reigning MIAA Player of the Week, led all scoring with 21.
It was a night when the shots just didn't fall. Coach Jim Middleton said that he was "pleased enough with our defense. It actually put us in a position to stay close to them. We held them to 57 points on their home court. I was OK with that." But when it came to the offensive play of the Lady 'Cats, Middleton remarked, "We just couldn't get our shots to fall. We really didn't come after them and play solid team ball until the 2nd half. We had fight in us, and I'm proud of the way we came back. It's just hard to win when we shoot that poorly."
SBU shot an uncharacteristically low 25% from the field, 22 percentage points below their season average. As a team, SBU hit only 17 of their 69 shots. In percentage terms, Courtney Creed was the most accurate at 43%, connecting on 3 of 7. The Buccaneers hit on 36% of their shots, and out-rebounded SBU by a single, 49-48.
The Lady 'Cats now go into Christmas break with a record of 8-2. They resume their MIAA schedule on December 30, with an away game at Emporia State.
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