The AU Women's Basketball team should have lost in regulation at Bender Arena Wednesday night.
With the score tied at 53, Maryland-Eastern Shore guard Ashley Chase held for the final shot, drove the lane, and then dished off to forward Kristi Veltkamp, who stood alone on the low block. But Veltkamp's layup inexplicably rimmed out, giving the Eagles a second life.
Still, the Eagles never regained the offensive rhythm they lost - along with an 11-point lead - during the second half. Meanwhile, Chase carried UMES in overtime (8-11, 6-4 MEAC), scoring five of her team's nine overtime points, including a game-winning 3-pointer with 21 seconds left, en route to a 62-59 defeat of the Eagles.
"I'm disappointed," said AU head coach Melissa McFerrin. "A win would've buoyed us into a great Patriot League weekend."
That momentum could have been vital for a team headed on likely its toughest road stint of the season. The Eagles take on Army, third in the PL, Friday before a match-up at Holy Cross, undefeated in the PL, on Sunday.
Instead, AU (8-12, 3-4 PL) will look to use another close defeat to gain some inspiration and perspective in what has been a trying season.
"I feel like it will help motivate us," said senior guard Joanna Barnes, who led all scorers with 19 points. "It comes down to the little things ... basic fundamental basketball - boxing out and rebounding. It shows us we do have to do those little things to win."
Barnes did her best, scoring 10 of her 19 points in the game's last 11 minutes, including four in overtime. But it was her errant 3-pointer with seven seconds to play that sealed AU's fate.
Meanwhile, sophomore guard Tara Williams, who could do no wrong early and finished with 16 points, went quiet for the final 11:37 of regulation, although her put-back jumper with 42 seconds to play in overtime did tie things briefly at 59.
And guard Chanel Hunt, AU's second leading scorer on the season, who has recently been plagued both by poor form and a knee injury, fell victim to the Hawks' defense, going scoreless while only playing 11 minutes.
But with all that said, things started brightly for the Eagles.
Williams scored AU's first six points, converting three transition layups in the game's opening four minutes. William's next bucket, another fast break lay-in, capped a 7-0 spurt that pushed the Eagles ahead, 29-18, with 2:40 to play. UMES responded, but AU still entered halftime ahead, 33-26.
Junior forward Abby Lipskis emerged as one of AU's bright spots during the opening half, when she entered the game for senior center Kim Salem, who accrued two personal fouls with 8:56 left in the half.
Lipskis scored seven points in that half, part of her nine total, while giving the Eagles some much-needed inside play off the bench.
AU started the second half as brightly as the first, riding two Williams buckets to a 6-2 spurt as the Eagles again led by 11, 39-28. But then the Eagle shooters went cold.
"[In the first half], we got the ball to Abby, we got offensive rebounds, Angel (Jordan, senior guard) hit a 3-pointer," McFerrin said.
"In the second half [UMES] went to more zone," she added. "They keyed on Joanna and mixed their defenses, making it hard for our guards to make reads. In the end, we only scored 20 points in the second half. That's a challenge."
Meanwhile, back-to-back 3-pointers, first from guard Toni Kennedy and then from Veltkamp, closed an 11-2 Hawk run that ended with UMES ahead, 48-45, its first lead since the 16:08 mark of the first half.
After that run, things see-sawed in the final six minutes, with neither team holding an advantage larger than two points until the game's conclusion. Veltkamp picked up her fourth personal foul during that stretch but did not come out, and the Eagles were unable to draw her fifth.
For UMES, Chase led with 17, while hobbling on what appeared to be an ankle injury. Kennedy and Veltkamp each finished with 13 points.
