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Xavier Falls in a Heartbreaker
3/22/2011
Amber Harris and Ta’Shia Phillips walked off the court to a standing ovation. Harris had her jersey pulled up to her face, covering the tears. Phillips had a look of disbelief on her face. Special Jennings was sobbing in the arms of an assistant coach. What had been such a great game, a great season, and a great four years suddenly had unraveled in a little over a minute. The scoreboard read Louisville 85, Xavier 75.
“That was an incredibly tough loss,” coach Kevin McGuff said, “It was bad for the seniors. But it wasn’t about effort, or the intangibles, there were just too many mistakes down the stretch.
“I didn’t put ourselves in the position to win.”
In front of a raucous crowd that nearly filled the entire lower bowl, Xavier and Louisville put on a show for the right to go to the Sweet 16. Louisville got off to a quick start and almost pushed the lead to double digits early on. Three pointers by Tyeasha Moss, Amber Harris, and Special Jennings kept Xavier in it, though. With the Cardinals up 6 at about the halfway mark in the first half, Xavier ripped off a 13-0 run that brought the crowd to their feet and into a frenzy. The Muskies turned up the defense and seemed like they were on the verge of running the Cardinals out of the Cintas Center.
Louisville wouldn’t go away, though. Both teams went back and forth, while the physicality and emotion of the game poured out. Freshman Shoni Schimmel singlehandedly kept the Cardinals in the game, dropping 33 on the Muskies, and always seemingly had an answer.
“Schommel was amazing,” said McGuff, “Just her poise down the stretch as a freshman. She kept their team together and allowed them to execute late in the game.”
McGuff was animated throughout the game, constantly urging his players to match the intensity of Louisville. That intensity led to Special Jennings hitting the deck while running hard through a screen in the first half. She lied there face down for several seconds before getting up. Jennings would re-enter the game a minute later.
The game appeared it could turn in the final minutes of the first half, when Louisville’s bench was charged with a technical foul on a charge. Xavier couldn’t take advantage of a potential momentum swing, though, and went into the half up just 40-37.
The second half was much of the same: high intensity and physical, with a lot of threes, and Xavier mistakes. The Musketeers would knock down a season high 14 threes. They also committed a stunningly high 24 turnovers, while Louisville nabbed 20 steals.
“There were too many mistakes,” Ta’Shia Phillips said, “We cost ourselves. Louisville made us pay.”
They did just that, scoring 33 points off of those 24 turnovers. Xavier’s short bench seemed to kill them, with only 6 players playing any significant amount of minutes.
“It definitely wore on us,” McGuff said, “I think it was part of it at the end. There was fatigue. We’ve done this for most of the year and not made that many mistakes.”
Nonetheless, Xavier led most of the way. Amber Harris led the team with 20 points, and seemed to get into a rhythm at times, while her partner Ta’Shia Phillips never found a groove, managing just 11 points. Tyeasha Moss and Katie Rutan combined for 32 points and 9 three pointers to keep the Muskies in the game.
“I just tried to put my team in the best position that I could,” said Rutan.
The turning point came with 1:23 left in the game. With Xavier trailing 73-70, Louisville managed to steal the ball, and Katie Rutan fouled Charmaine Tay. The refs would rule the foul intentional, and later call another intentional foul on the Cardinals on the play. Louisville made both of their free throws, while the Muskies made just one. An empty possession and another foul led to more Louisville free throws. There was no pretty way for the game to end. The Cardinals pulled away in an 85-75 victory that was much tighter than the score indicated.
Xavier was left to ponder the great season, and for the seniors, their great careers.
“Honestly, it’s bittersweet,” said Ta’Shia Phillips, “Coach just told us we did a lot of amazing things here. We have.”
“These are great young women, and it is amazing to see what they’ve accomplished in these last four years,” Coach McGuff said, “We all had great aspirations for this season, and to have it end like this when we had a chance to move to the Sweet 16 is tough. You can’t invest as much as they have in this program and not be devastated.
“I just want them to know how much they meant to this program, and to me.”
The greatest class in the history of Xavier’s program left Tuesday’s game to a standing ovation from the crowd. And they deserved every single second of it.
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