AIKEN, S.C.-- LaShonda Chiles broke NCAA Division II’s
all-time scoring record, but it was a rebound that preserved her
team’s 2008 Peach Belt Conference Basketball Tournament
quarterfinal victory over host USC Aiken on Thursday evening at the
USC Aiken Convocation Center.
Chiles and the fourth-seeded Bearcats (18-11) watched an 16-point
second-half lead narrow to just one, 68-67, and a turnover forced
by USC Aiken’s Avonte Williams gave the fifth-seeded Lady
Pacers (20-8) two chances at a game-winning shot with 24.6 seconds
left. Jordan Thomas’ shot was blocked out of bounds by
Stephanie Ponds with 9.1 seconds remaining, then Williams drove to
the basket and missed a shot to the left. The 5’2”
Chiles grabbed the rebound with 2.9 seconds left, was fouled, and
after a miss the Bearcats broke up the outlet pass, keeping
Lander’s postseason hopes alive.
Lander will now advance to the semifinals to meet top-seed Francis
Marion at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. USC Aiken will now await word of a
possible at-large berth to the South Atlantic Regional, which will
be announced on Sunday.
Lander led by double-digits early as a three-pointer by PBC Player
of the Year Tiara Good gave the Lady Bearcats a 21-11 lead just
nine minutes into the contest. That lead would stretch out to 18 on
another three-pointer by Good, giving Lander the 38-20 lead with
3:02 left until intermission, and the Bearcats would take a 40-27
lead into the break.
The Pacers climbed back into the game midway through the second
half, cutting the lead to six, 56-50, on a Meredith Legg
three-pointer with 8:15 left in the game. Another Legg three with
6:45 left cut it to five, and a Williams three-pointer cut the lead
to a possession with 39.8 seconds left, 68-65. Another Williams
bucket with 25.2 seconds left set up the last-second drama.
Chiles became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division II
history on the night with her second three-pointer of the night at
the 14:48 minute mark of the first half, passing Dina Kangas of
Minnesota-Duluth, who had 2,810 points from 1988 to 1991. With her
14 points tonight, Chiles has 2,819 in her four-year career at
Anderson and now at Lander.
Good led all scorers on the night with 23 points on 9-of-19
shooting from the field, including 5-of-10 three-pointers. USC
Aiken was led by Meredith Legg’s 19 points on 7-of-18
shooting, including 5-of-11 three-pointers, while Williams and
Morgan Johnson each finished the night with 15 points.
Boxscore
USC Aiken vs. Lander – Quotes
Lander head coach Kevin Pederson:
“I hope not to play USC Aiken for at least 300 more days.
How we have won three games against them, I’m not real sure.
That is an outstanding team, and Mike is one of the better coaches
you are going to see in this business. His kids are always ready to
play.”
“I can’t tell you how much it took for us to come in
here at USC Aiken, play a well-coached team and come away with a
victory.”
“It’s a good lesson for our kids. Their crowd really
got to us. It got loud, and we made a few mistakes and got rattled
a little. One of the hard things about basketball is getting a big
lead early in a game. After that, you just have to play smart. We
got a little hesitant, and they made some big shots, especially
from Meredith Legg.”
Senior guard LaShonda Chiles:
(On setting the NCAA Division II career scoring record)
“I’m glad we got the win, and glad to be able to get
the mark. It would’ve been sad to have lost and got the mark,
but it feels better that we got the win in addition to the
mark.”
Senior guard Tiara Good:
“That steal by LaShonda at the end was huge. It was a big
play. We did get rattled a little, but we came together and locked
down defensively when we needed to.”
USC Aiken head coach Mike Brandt:
“Our team has an enormous amount of heart, they made a great
effort and had a great comeback against a great team. You are
talking about the best scorer in Division II and the two-time
Conference Player of the Year, and to be able to come back on them
like that is tremendous. Unfortunately, one of those teams had to
lose and we were the unfortunate team.”
“I felt confident that we would still win the game. My
personality is to stay positive with them because it could’ve
been worse. We had a chance to win in the end, and in a tournament
like this, that is all you want is a chance to win in the
end.”
Senior forward Jordan Thomas:
“Our speciality is coming back and if not winning in
regulation, then go into overtime. There wasn’t a doubt in my
mind that we would have a chance to come back. We played with a lot
of heart, it’s just sad the way it ended.”
Baseball
About the PBC
