NW Mississippi News

Blackmon’s Putback At The Buzzer Hands Lady Bearcats Second Straight Title In Instant Classic

The Rust College women's basketball program is heading back to the NAIA Tournament for the third time in four seasons as two-time All-American and three-time All-GCAC senior Katie Blackmon grabbed the offensive rebound off the Shuntorri Rodgers miss, floating the ball back through the cylinder with just under two seconds remaining, to set off a jubilant celebration as the Lady Bearcats won the Championship in dramatic fashion, 51-50 over #3 Philander Smith.

 

It was an offensive struggle on both ends of the floor in a battle of two defense-driven juggernauts as the two teams combined to go just 3-of-34 (8.8%) from deep and a 32% field goal percentage between them, needing last second buckets for each side to cross the 50-point barrier.

 

Free throw shooting was critical down the stretch in such a tightly-contested matchup and the Lady Bearcats thrived under the intense pressure, hitting a perfect 11-of-11 attempts in the second half while the Lady Panthers went just 3-for-6 (50%).

 

Blackmon, the hero and one constant superstar over the past three seasons, had a game-high 13 rebounds and three assists while falling a point shy of a double-double (9), draining 4-of-7 (57.1%) shots including the game-winner, which came off her five offensive board of the day.

 

Rodgers will be remembered just as fondly as Blackmon for her performance, mainly the banked in, corner three-pointer with the shot clock expiring to give the Lady Cats a 47-45 edge late in the ballgame. She was the only player on either side with multiple steals and the circus shot triple was her only made basket of the contest.

 

On an afternoon where neither squad could get much rhythm or momentum going on offense, it was Niya McGuire who stepped up, catching fire with seven field goals over nine tries (77.8%) for a contest-best 14 points to go along with her four rebounds, two dimes plus a steal.

 

Coach Eric Jackson, Jr.'s GCAC Champions will await their destination, seed, and opponent on Thursday, March 2 at 6 p.m. CT with the NAIA First Round beginning on March 7.

 

The NAIA Women's Basketball Selection Show will be streamed live on the NAIA YouTube Channel as well as the NAIA Twitter and Facebook pages at the appointed times.

Original source can be found here.