Shooting Slump Sinks Comeback Chances for Eagles
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
13 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 56 |
|
|
11 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 53 |
Team Stats
Union College
| Game Statistics | Union College | Faith Baptist Bible College |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (21-52) | (17-63) |
| Field Goal % | 40.4% | 27.0% |
| Rebounds | 27 | 50 |
| Assists | 10 | 10 |
| Turnovers | 16 | 28 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 32 | 9 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 6 | 24 |
| Pts in the Paint | 34 | 20 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 16 | 0 |
| Bench Pts | 0 | 13 |
By Jon Crossman
ANKENY, Iowa — The women's basketball team endured its closest loss of the season Monday night, running out of time to get off a tying shot against the short-handed Union Warriors with 0.4 seconds left on the clock. To quote the late great John Wooden, "Players with fight never lose a game, they just run out of time," an apt descriptor for the final plays of the game. The Eagles had their chances with 24 different scoring opportunities in the final quarter, but with no closing shot they fell to Union, 56-53.
The team has faced its fair share of adversity in the final third of the season, losing two key ball handlers to injury, and this game only succeeded in compounding the headache with a season-low of 27.0% FG. Shots couldn't fall any which way for the Eagles, with a combined 8-39 on shooting in the second half adding to the already mounting pressure from Union's defense. The Eagles' saving grace and the factor that kept them in the game up to the final play was their rebounds, with Rachel Kleczka pulling in 21 of the 50 Faith rebounds in the game. The ladies went into the locker room after the first half down by one point, hopeful to come back and put the pressure on with a halftime score of 29-28.
Despite a few waves of momentum from the Union offense, the Eagles' best in the paint did their duty of keeping the game close, making up for the poor night of shooting by digging in and holding the Union lead to under double digits the entire night. The golden ticket for the Eagles came when Union shooting guard Xiara Lopez fouled out with 39 seconds left, leaving the Warriors with just four players on the court and up by only three after a made free throw from Whitney Wacker. This would have been the perfect opportunity to close out the short-handed defenders, but a string of fouls in the Eagles' paint after costly turnovers allowed Union to get the jump on the Faith comeback and extend their lead to four. One final push from the 'do-or-die' Eagles line ended with a heartbreaking inbound, allowing time to expire on the 56-53 defeat.
The Eagles look to brighter things with their final home game of the season on Friday, a good chance to warm up before heading into the North Region Tournament. Faith plays Ecclesia College in the Nettleton Center, starting at 2:00 PM.
