Published Sunday, March 7, 2010 5:30 pm
by Chad Beattie
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. - A three-pointer by Kira Harvey with four seconds remaining in regulation lifted Lynn University's women's basketball team to its first ever Sunshine State Conference title and NCAA Tournament berth. Chelsea Patterson was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, leading LU with 21 points. The Fighting Knights become just the second fifth seed to win the conference tournament title and first since Rollins in 2005.
Lynn (19-10) had built up a 17-point lead in the second half but Mariesa Greene single-handedly brought Barry (21-9) back into the game. The SSC's Player of the Year scored 23 of her 27 points in the second half and gave the Bucs its first lead of the period with a free-throw shot at 3:11.
Marquis Lee put LU back on top heading into the two minute warning with a lay-up, putting the Blue & White in a familiar position. Heading into the contest, they were 17-0 when leading or tied at the two minute mark and did not disappoint.
After Greene hit two more at the charity stripe, the Knights pushed their offense forward looking for the game-winning shot. A foul by Tilde Ahlin forced a change in plan with seven ticks on the clock. Harvey inbounded the pass to Quanisha Dixon and snuck back into the left corner. The All-Tournament selection drove the baseline and kicked out to Harvey for the winning bucket.
Knights went up 5-0 immediately at the start of the contest with Patterson scoring on a back-door lay-up and three from the top of the arc. The teams exchanged baskets until 9:39 remaining in the half when Christina Thompson nailed a three from the left wing.
Lynn's defense clamped down following Thompsons shot, holding the Buccaneers without a field goal for the remainder of the half. Meanwhile, Patterson heated up and scored 10 of her points in the opening period.
Greene ran into early foul trouble and was forced to sit eight minutes of the half. As a team, Barry was held to just 25% shooting in the frame while LU hit 40% of its shots and headed into the locker room with a 29-20 lead.
Barry started the second half with three but Patterson got those points right back with a trey of her own then dished out to Kira Harvey in the left corner to build a 12-point advantage, 35-23.
Greene closed the gap with nine points on three consecutive possessions to pull Barry to within 43-42 and start the back-and-forth between teams.
Lynn shot 41.5% from the field overall and held Barry to 34.6% shooting in defeating the Bucs for the first time in three attempts this year.
The Fighting Knights will be making their first trip to the NCAA tournament and first postseason appearance since they advanced to the NAIA Tournament in 1995-96.
Fans can follow the selection show live at 9 p.m. to find out who the Blue & White will face by logging on to
www.ncaa.com.
http://www1.lynn.edu/index.php?src=news&refno=8325&category=Basketball%20News%20-%20Women
