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Feb. 24, 2010
Hillary Shope scored seven of her team-high 16 points in overtime, including a pair of free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining, and IUP survived a desperation shot at the buzzer to escape Edinboro with a 64-62 victory to wrap up third place in the PSAC West. The Crimson Hawks snapped a two-game losing streak at the hands of division leaders Gannon and California and are 16-9 overall and 9-4 in the PSAC West. California secured second place in the division with a 77-63 victory at Slippery Rock and will host IUP in the opening round of the conference playoffs on Tuesday. Edinboro dropped to 15-11 and 6-7 in the PSAC West and lost to IUP for the ninth straight time. The Fighting Scots are one game ahead of Clarion in the battle for the fourth and final spot out of the division and a quarterfinal game at undefeated Gannon. Edinboro hosts Clarion in the regular season finale on Saturday with the winner qualifying for the postseason. The game at California on Tuesday will mark the fourth straight season that IUP will play the Vulcans in the PSAC tournament. The Crimson Hawks have won the past three years, all in the conference championship game. California won both regular season games this season. Shope hit 6 of 8 shots from the floor and also pulled down seven rebounds and blocked three shots. She was joined in double figures in the scoring column by Lacey Claar with 14 and Eryn Withers with 13. Claar paced the Crimson Hawks with nine rebounds, Julie Lozon had eight points and eight boards and Kierstin Filla dished out six assists. Kelsey Conklin and Renee Brown both had 18 points to lead the Fighting Scots, with Brown grabbing 15 rebounds and making four steals and Conklin rejected six shots while making three steals. For the second time this season, the Crimson Hawks held Edinboro's leading scorer, Samantha Reimer, in check. Reimer came in averaging 18.5 points per game but made only 2 of 14 shots and scored seven points. In two games versus IUP this year, Reimer hit just 2 of 26 field goal attempts and tallied a total of 12 points. With the clock running out in overtime, Conklin fouled Shope away from the basket, and the 80 percent career free throw shooter drained both ends of the 1-and-1 to give the Crimson Hawks their final margin of victory. The win was not secured until Reimer missed a long 3-pointer after Edinboro was granted a timeout on the inbounds pass at midcourt despite no Fighting Scot appearing to have touched the ball. IUP held the Fighting Scots to only two points over the final 4:54 of regulation after Edinboro took a 53-49 lead on two free throws by Brown. Claar tied it at 55 on a short jumper in the lane with 1:50 remaining, and neither team was able to score the rest of the way to force the overtime period. The teams traded the first eight points of the extra session, with IUP tying it at 59 on a layup by Shope with two minutes to go. Brown missed two shots on the other end, including a 3-pointer, and the Crimson Hawks took advantage when Claar gathered in a miss by Withers and fed Shope who drained just her eighth 3-pointer of the season at the 1:15 mark. A basket by Brown created the 10th and final tie of the game with 29 seconds left, and IUP called timeout to set up the final shot that was rendered unnecessary when Shope drew the foul on Conklin. Including the end of the second half, Shope scored 11 of IUP's final 15 points of the game. IUP concludes its regular season at home Saturday at 5:30 versus Slippery Rock. Prior to the game, Shope and Filla will be honored as part of the Senior Night festivities. |
