Box Score
ORANGE, Calif. – It was good run, an unprecedented run, for the Louisiana College women, but, as is the case with all good things, it came to an end.
One night after winning the first NCAA Division III Tournament game in school history, the Lady Cats fell 63-47 to George Fox in the second round.
It was the second straight year that the Bruins (23-5) eliminated LC (25-4) from the NCAA Tournament.
"Any time I talk about anything, good or bad, I'll tell you that this is a team sport," LC coach Jason Tinsley said. "It's a collective effort. Yes, what an individual does is important, but at the same time it's not because the collective has to get the job done. Tonight, as a collective, we didn't play with the intensity that was needed for us to win.
"I gauge that on hustle plays. We only had 41 hustle plays tonight. We only have four steals. We average 15. With only one day, really one hour of practice time, to prepare for a game like this, you have to just take your basic principals and get the job done. Tonight, we didn't get the job done."
The first half couldn't have gone much worse for LC, which tallied just one assist and one steal through the first 20 minutes of play, was outrebounded 25-19 by the taller Bruins and trailed 29-21.
LC led 14-6 with eight minutes to play in the first half, but George Fox went on a 23-7 run to close the half.
While neither team lit the scoreboard on fire in the first half, the tale of the tape was that LC shot just 17 percent (6-for-34) from the field and 25 percent (3-for-12) from three-point range. The Lady Cats' saving grace was an 85 percent (6-for-7) showing at the free-throw line.
George Fox shot 50 percent (13-for-26) from the field and 33 percent (2-for-6) from three-point range.
The second half brought about much of the same as LC shot 22 percent from the field to George Fox's 59, and never got closer than seven points of the lead.
All told, LC shot 20 percent from the field and 16 from three-point range while George Fox shot 54 percent from the field and 27 from the three-point range. The Bruins also out-rebounded the Lady Cats 50-40 on the game.
It was a tough end to what was otherwise a superb season for the Lady Cats, who over the last two seasons have a record of 49-7, appeared in two NCAA national tournaments, won one NCAA tournament game, won one American Southwest Conference title and two ASC East Crowns.
"You know, there was a great tradition at Louisiana College when we were NAIA," Tinsley said. "There were a lot of good teams and a lot of good players in those days. This group of players, particularly our seniors, have established some tradition in the NCAA. Now there's some expectation of success and it's a credit to these players."
Three Lady Cats hit double figures in the game.
In her last game in an LC uniform, senior All-American Tillisha Givens, as has been the norm through her career, posted a double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.
Junior point guard Roslyn Wilmer added 16 points and Kayla Guidry 10.
George Fox was led by a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double by 6-foot-5 post Hannah Munger and a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double by Keisha Gordon.
