Arkansas State’s women’s basketball team doesn’t expect to shake Saturday’s loss anytime soon.
The Red Wolves had a 13-point lead and were seven minutes away from reaching their first NCAA Tournament before Western Kentucky’s press forced hurried shots that led to a late-game collapse in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
ASU Coach Brian Boyer said he expects the 61-60 loss - after the Red Wolves led 56-43 with 7:05 left - will still be planted firmly in his head, as well as those of his players, when ASU tips off at 8 tonight against Texas-El Paso in the first round of the Women’s NIT.
“It’ll be something I may think about the rest of my career,” Boyer said. “As the head coach, you take responsibility in those types of losses. That’s something that I won’t forget for a long time.”
Boyer’s task since Saturday has been finding a way to get his team to keep playing hard after missing out on a chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
“Just moving on,” he said.
Boyer gave the team Sunday and Monday off, then held a meeting before returning to the floor Tuesday to begin preparations for UTEP (24-7).
Boyer said he accentuated the positives of what is still in front of the Red Wolves, reminding his team that it’s in a spot it hasn’t been in since 2007, the last time it qualified for the Women’s NIT, and that it has a chance to complete what could already be considered ASU’s best season since he became coach in 1999.
“This group is competitive,” Boyer said. “They like to compete, they have all year. So, we’ll be fine.”
Senior Jane Morrill, who is seventh on ASU’s all-time scoring list with 1,524 career points, said she was a bit worried when she arrived at the Convocation Center for practice Tuesday. Boyer addressed the team before players took the floor, but Morrill said after a few sluggish minutes things seemed well.
That doesn’t mean the memory of the loss is gone entirely.
“I’m sure it’s going to haunt all of us,” Morrill said. “We’ve got to kind of put that away and create this new attitude and excitement, just kind of moving on temporarily.”
ASU faces a UTEP team that finished third in the Conference USA regular-season standings before losing in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
It’s UTEP’s first trip to the Women’s NIT after declining a bid last year after dealing with injuries to key players, but UTEP has remained healthy this season. Forward Kayla Thornton has emerged as one of the best post players in the country and was named first-team All-Conference USA after averaging 19.9 points and 10.5 rebounds a game.
“She’s a pro,” Boyer said. “I would be shocked if we’renot watching her on television next year. She’s big, strong, athletic. She can shoot the three.”
If ASU gets past UTEP, it’ll play a second-round game against Cal-State Bakersfield or St. Mary’s. ASU has bid to host a second-round game - it also bid for a first-round game, too - but won’t know if it’ll play in Jonesboro or on the West Coast until after the first round is complete.
Boyer hopes he sees a rejuvenated Red Wolves team tonight.
“We all know we’re disappointed in the way things happened,” Boyer said. “You can either choose to stay disappointed and be one-and-done in this tournament, or you can be excited about it.”
At a glance
FIRST ROUND
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES Villanova 74, Quinnipiac 66 George Washington 86, East Carolina 68 Minnesota 62, Green Bay 60 Colorado 78, TCU 71 Montana 90, Washington State 78
THURSDAY’S GAMES IUPUI 72, Central Michigan 66 Bowling Green 72, High Point 62 Indiana 48, Belmont 47 Auburn 78, Furman 64 Harvard 90, Iona 89Rutgers 65, Delaware 61 Princeton 94, VCU 76 Seton Hall 63, American 60 Old Dominion 68, Navy 60 Stetson 70, Miami 63 Marquette 63, Indiana State 61 SMU 84, Texas Southern 72 South Dakota State 78, Butler 61 Creighton 77, Missouri 51 Northwestern 69, Ball State 65 Mississipi State 77, Tulane 68 Southern Miss. 75, Lamar 60 San Diego 82, Cal Poly 59 Southern Utah 71, Colorado State 56Oregon 90, Pacific 63
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central Stony Brook (24-8) at Michigan (18-13), 6 p.m. Mt. St. Mary’s (19-13) at Duquesne (19-12), 6 p.m. Charlotte (15-15) at St. Bona. (23-10), 6 p.m. N. Carolina A&T (24-6) at S. Fla. (19-12), 6 p.m. CS Bakersfield (19-11) at St. Mary’s (22-9), 8 p.m. Ark. St. (22-11) at Texas-El Paso (24-7), 8 p.m. Hawaii (17-13) at Washington (17-13), 9 p.m.
SECOND ROUND
SATURDAY-TUESDAY Hawaii-Washington vs. Oregon (16-15), TBAMontana (23-10) vs. San Diego (23-8), TBA S. Utah (23-9) vs. Colorado (18-14), TBA CS Bakersfield-St. Mary’s vs. ASU-UTEP, TBA Minnesota (21-12) vs. SMU (18-13), TBA S. Dakota St. (23-9) vs. Creighton (20-13), TBA Marquette (22-10) vs. Indiana (19-12), TBA Northwestern (16-15) vs. IUPUI (23-9), TBA Stony Brook-Mich. vs. MSM-Duquesne, TBA Bowl. Green (28-4) vs. Charlotte-St. Bon. , TBA Harvard (22-7) vs. Rutgers (23-9), TBA Princeton (21-8) vs. Seton Hall (19-13), TBA Mississipi St. (20-13) vs. S. Miss. (27-6), TBA Auburn (18-14) vs. Old Dominion (18-15), TBA N. Carolina A&T-S. Fla. vs. Stetson (27-7), TBA
Sports, Pages 21 on 03/21/2014