MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College entered its first ever Southern States Athletic Conference women's basketball championship tournament Wednesday morning. Now, as a No. 10 seed, they have their first ever SSAC tournament victory, coming from behind to defeat No. 7 Thomas University, 70-66.
Shakiria Chaney finished at 23 points.
Reese Riddle scored 13 and
Brianna Wimberly, who had not been in double-digits in scoring since December, scored 12 huge points in securing the upset.
ABAC (7-20, 3-13 in the SSAC), which entered as 10th seed, will play No. 2 Faulkner (20-7, 13-4) Thursday at 1:30 p.m. EST at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl. Thomas finished its season at 13-16 (7-9).
After the game, head coach
Charles Wimberly admitted his feet had yet to hit the ground.
The Fillies trailed 53-46 going into the final 10 minutes. Worse,
Dailey Jefferson had 4 fouls and Riddle and Wimberly each had 3. Their woes grew deeper when Thomas' Destiny Hill made a steal and converted a layup on the other end to make it 55-46.
Chaney and
Zamiyah Hosley kept ABAC afloat with jump shots, then the Fillies stumbled when Jefferson fouled out. Thomas made a single free throw, then saw their lead sliced further on a Chaney triple seconds later.
Hosley assisted Chaney on a drive at 7:16 and it was now a 56-55 game. Thomas came back with a 3-pointer on the next possession, but failed to build further momentum.
Wimberly hit a three at 5:26 to bring back down to a point margin. Both teams were quiet for nearly three minutes before Hill hit from beyond the arc to increase Thomas' lead to 62-58.
A long jumper by Riddle made the score 62-60 in the Night Hawks' favor. LaTarius Montgomery made a single free throw at 2:12, then ABAC narrowed the gap further on a Riddle drove at 1:51.
Thomas called time, but immediately lost the ball as Wimberly stole the inbounds pass, took it the other way and was fouled. Wimberly, who had attempted two free throws all year, made both at 1:19 to give ABAC its first lead since 5:52 in the 2nd quarter.
Chaney reeled in a defensive rebound, then an offensive one after Riddle missed with the shot clock winding down. Fouled on the put-back try, Chaney made it 65-63 at the stripe.
The Night Hawks missed a three-point try and Chaney got the board. Hosley was fouled with 21 seconds left, sending ABAC into the bonus. She made both shots, making the lead more comfortable at 67-63.
Thomas called another timeout and again directly turned it over, this time into the arms of
Taylor Frazier. Hosley made two more free throws and ABAC was feeling confident. Montgomery and Wimberly traded single free throws. Thomas had a last possession and made a jump shot at the horn for the final score.
The Fillies were hot early on, taking a 16-8 lead midway through the 1st period on the strength of treys by Wimberly, Riddle and Chaney.
Thomas closed that gap to 18-17 after a quarter, then went ahead in the 2nd to lead 34-32 at halftime. They kept that lead throughout the 3rd as ABAC battled foul troubles.
Here, the Fillies got an assist from the bench.
Layla Townsend kept them in the game with 6 points, all in the 3rd frame. One basket came after she flagged down a long offensive rebound and hit a jumper from the corner. Two others were on drives.
Wednesday was a double-double for Chaney with 11 rebounds and she also blocked a pair of shots. Hosley had 10 assists and Jefferson had 9 rebounds, all defensive.
Montgomery, the SSAC's top rebounder, was held to 6. She finished at 18 points. Hill had 16.
Faulkner, whom the Fillies see next, went 20-7 in the regular season, 13-4 in the conference. The Eagles won the regular season contest, 91-60.
