Lady Pioneers' Season Ends

Lady Pioneers' Season Ends

The atmosphere in the University of Nebraska at Kearney gymnasium: electric...the Lady Pioneer faithful put in a very strong showing, as the bleacher section behind the GSC bench is nearly full of blue and white. The end of the gym was filled with screaming elementary children, watching the teams that were assigned to them in the community outreach program, wearing the colors of the teams that they were supporting and screaming cheers to support the young ladies on the floor.

The atmosphere in the University of Nebraska at Kearney gymnasium was electric. The Lady Pioneer faithful were out in force, and the reserved seats behind GSC's bench were a sea of blue and white. The end of the floor by GSC's bench was filled with screaming elementary school children who got to meet their teams yesterday and were permitted to miss class to attend the game.

GSC entered their quarterfinal game vs. UCSD riding a 27-game winning streak. UCSD earned their berth in the NCAA Elite Eight by winning the West Region tournament. The Tritons defeated Chico State in the West Region final game.

As play opened, GSC's aggressive defensive style earned them the quick foul at the 19:48 mark as Lauren Strong was whistled to give the Lady Pioneers their first foul of the half. By the end of the first half, the disparity in the foul count would show that the trend continued throughout the half as GSC finished with 10 fouls compared to UCSC's 3 fouls. The Tritons drew first blood as their First-Team All-American player Leora Juster hit for three. Lauren Strong answered back for the Lady Pioneers with the lay-up to make the score 2-3. Leora Juster hit again for UCSD on the lay-up to put them up by a margin of three points.

Rachel Redick scored next for the Lady Pioneers with a jump shot, then stole the ball from the UCSD offense late in their next possession and took the ball down the floor for the fast break lay-up to give GSC their first lead of the game at 6-5. Casey Taylor hit a mid-range jumper to extend the GSC lead to three points. Although the Lady Pioneers were racking up the fouls throughout the first half, they also found their offensive rhythm and extended their lead through the next four minutes and led by as much as fifteen at the 12:24 mark. The lead stayed in the low double-digit range for most of the rest of the half. UCSD mounted a late run to cut the lead to five points with a score of 36-31, but Lauren Strong's fast break lay-up gave the Lady Pioneers the seven-point lead that they took into the locker room at halftime.

Second half action started off with five missed shots and a turnover before Melanie Oliver finally scored on a pair of back-to-back lay-ups to take the Pioneer lead back up to six points. Rachel Redick earned a trip to the line and missed her first of two free throws, and unfortunately that trend continued as Melanie Oliver missed two free throws soon after, and Lauren Strong followed suit after that. Casey Taylor missed a pair of shots, Strong missed another free throw, and the Lady Pioneer offense had stalled as the missed shots and turnovers kept coming. While the Lady Pioneers were missing shots, the Tritons went on an 11-1 run to take the lead and start building on it. The Tritons would lead by as much as ten points late in the second half, and unfortunately the Lady Pioneers couldn't seem to make the shots needed to get closer than 7 points. The final margin was ten points, and the final score was 71-61.

Rachel Redick led the Lady Pioneers in scoring with 18 points. Redick also tallied 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal in 39 minutes of play. Melanie Oliver contributed 14 points, 4 rebounds, and led the team in steals with 3. Casey Taylor and Lauren Strong chipped in 10 points apiece . Taylor and Karina Kendrick paced the team in rebounds with 8 each. Mallory Menendez added 6 points, and Christine DiSabato 3 points. Christy Alltop contributed 2 assists and 1 rebound. The Lady Pioneers shot 36% from the floor, only 21% from long range, and 63% from the line. UCSD scored 16 points off Pioneer turnovers. The Lady Pioneers end their season with a 33-3 record.

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