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Home > Sports

Emotional loss to Lopers ends season for ’Runners

By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

When it comes to sports, you can give 110 percent, you can push your body to the brink of exhaustion and you can execute your gameplan to perfection. But sometimes in sports, winning just isn’t in the cards, as was the case for Metro women’s basketball team, which fell 59-58 to Nebraska- Kearney in the second round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament March 7 at the Colorado State Fair Events Center in Pueblo.

It was the third time the Roadrunners came up on the short end of the scoreboard against the Lopers this season, but the No. 4-seeded ’Runners fought to the final seconds in the one-point loss.

“When you leave everything out on the court, you can never put your head down,” Metro head coach Linda Lappe said

After blistering Adams State in the first round of the RMAC Tournament 88-60 on Feb. 29 at the Auraria Events Center, Metro took its four game winning streak to Pueblo and from the opening tip, the game took on the looks of a hockey game. Bodies were flying to the floor on a consistent basis, and it affected the offensive schemes of both teams, as points didn’t come easy.

Even Kearney head coach Carol Russell, who leads one of the highest scoring offenses in the conference at 74 points per game knew it would be tough to reach that point total against their familiar foes.

“Metro State played us close every time we’ve played them this year,” Russell said. “We knew it was going to be a tough battle.”

After the first half, the point total showcased the fierce defensive pressure both sides threw onto the court as Kearney held a slim 28-24 lead.

To start the second half, Metro’s offense seemed to come alive as Metro guard Stephanie Sauter nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Roadrunners a two-point edge. Metro guard Ashley Mickens rebounded from a poor first-half performance to revive the offense. In the first five minutes of the second half, Mickens assisted on four shots and drained a jumper that gave her team the lead.

“I just had to be more patient,” Mickens said. “I’m a big-time driver and they were collapsing every time, so I had to change my game up and realize that I can hit the outside jumper as well.”

A mid-range jump shot from Metro forward Anne-Marie Torp evened the score at 40 with 8:34 on the clock. But the Lopers went on a 10-2 that gave them a 50-42 lead, the largest lead of the game for either team.

The Roadrunners were not ready to taste defeat just yet as they went on a run of their own, cutting the deficit to one after guard Paige Powers hit a jumper to put the score at 56-55.

“There was no way we were going to give up, that’s what winners do,” Lappe said. “It’s just in their personality the way they go about things. I had no doubt we we’re going to make another run at them.”

On Kearney’s next possession, they got a key jumper from guard Jade Meads that put the Lopers up 58- 55 with 29 seconds remaining.

After Kearney forward Melissa Hinkley made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, Mickens hit a 3-pointer that cut the Lopers’ lead to one with eight seconds left. Sauter put Mathis on the free-throw line and went on to miss the first free throw of the one-and-one. Mickens grabbed the rebound, raced down the court and missed a desperation attempt that fell short, ending the game and the season for the ’Runners.

As Metro’s final shot fell short as time expired, the emotion of the team’s five departing seniors quickly seeped in and tears began to flow. Powers fell to her knees realizing that her four-year career at Metro was over, Mickens was consoled by her junior teammate Megan Sinclair who put a comforting arm around her shoulder, walking beside her as they left the court, and the rest just ran off the court disappointed that no more basketball would be played in a Roadrunner uniform.

“When you have five seniors, they obviously don’t want their season to be over,” Lappe said.

Metro forward Cassondra Bratton, who had a rough season on and off the court, came ready to battle and kept her team in the game from the outset. The junior finished the game with 14 points and 17 rebounds, leading her team in both categories.

“I love physical play,” Bratton said, who will return next season as a senior leader. “That’s my game, so when coach Lappe said it was going to by physical, I said ‘bring it’ and I was ready to play.”

The Roadrunners finished the season with a 19-10 record and will have to pack it up and try again next season where Lappe will begin her second year as head coach.