March 24, 2010
NCAA Final: Xavier 63, Vanderbilt 62
Clichés abound for basketball fans everywhere during March Madness.
Even so, each time a team struggles hard and loses by an eyelash, there are few words to adequately describe the surprise and disappointment.
Case in point: Last night’s second round of the NCAA championship which would be the final game for the 2009-10 Vanderbilt women’s basketball team, as they were defeated by the third seeded Xavier Musketeers.
Seniors like Merideth Marsh were crushed; underclassmen like Jence Rhoads, who scored team-high 20 points, were bewildered. Steady as she goes, the Commodores had held a healthy lead throughout most of the game, but that didn’t get them a ticket to Sacramento for the Sweet Sixteen.
Xavier took its final lead with less than 12 seconds to go in the game. That’s all it took to close the deal. The Commodores had two final looks at the basket, but the ball just wouldn’t sink.
“I hoped it would go in,” said Rhoads, whose put-back attempt as time expired hit both sides of the iron before bouncing out. “It felt good when I released it, but I guess I just shot too quick.”
For 40 gut-wrenching minutes that preceded her attempt to win, Jence and the Commodores gave the No. 5 team in the country a run for their money in their own home arena, the gym nearly full of ear-splitting Musketeer fans. The Commodores knew they were the underdog and they embraced it. Their coach Melanie Balcomb embraced it. They played fearlessly.
“I’m proud of our efforts,” Balcomb said. “We fought for 40 minutes. It was a tough way to lose. I’m proud of our team and what we did tonight.”
Marsh, who had scored 26 points two nights before, was heavily guarded by the Musketeers, which impeded her overall shooting performance during the second half. In the first half, she was hesitant.
“They had a lot of people on me,” Marsh said. “Jence stepped up, Lauren (Lueders) did. Hannah (Tuomi) did. But things started to go wrong.”
Vandy’s troubles came defensively in the end, leaving wing shooters open, Balcomb said. “Giving up those threes … we made some mental mistakes down the stretch.”
That chink in their armor gave way to Amber Harris, the 6 foot 5 forward, and Ta’Shia Phillips. 6 foot 6, just what they needed to further break down the Commodores and take control inside. Xavier’s strong inside attack led the women to score 44 of their 63 points in the paint; and they won the battle of the boards with 41 rebounds to Vanderbilt’s 35.
“At the end of my (college) career, Marsh added, “it’s not the way you’d want it to go. We came prepared, but fell a little bit short,” she said.
(Photo by Timothy Sofranko)