James Williams
The Paw Print
The most successful season in the history of Adams State College women’s basketball came to an end in the first round of the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball tournament, dropping their opening round game against the Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) University Golden Bears 87-59 at Fort Lewis College’s Whalen Gymnasium.
Both teams started slowly, with neither team able to gain an advantage much larger than one possession through the opening six minutes of the contest. The Golden Bears, who entered the tournament ranked 21st in the USA Today/ESPN/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 poll, led by one point at the 14:18 mark of the first half following a three-pointer from junior guard Vera Jo Bustos and a free throw from senior Misti Solomon, before capitalizing on seven of the 15 turnovers by the Grizzlies in the half during a 23-4 run that opened up a 45-22 lead at halftime.
Cold shooting from the field didn’t help the Grizzlies, as they shot only 35.7 percent from the field and struggled from beyond the arc, converting only one of nine attempts from long distance.
A large discrepancy from the free throw line didn’t help the Grizzlies either, as they only managed two foul shots in the first half, missing one of them, while the aggressive offense of the Golden Bears went 10-of-13 from the charity stripe.
The Golden Bears were led by junior guard Jineen Williams, who had 20 points in the first half. Williams finished with a game-high 32 points.
The second half played out in much the same way as the first half. The Grizzlies improved offensively, shooting an even 50 percent from the field in the second half, but could not make up enough ground to catch up.
The Grizzlies weren’t able to get the lead down to anything less than 19 points, and the Golden Bears continued their strong play on offense, leading by as many as 31 points before settling in for the 28 point victory.
Bustos and sophomore forward Chloe Cable led the Grizzlies in scoring with 19 and 18 points, respectively.
The Grizzlies and the Golden Bears had never previously faced off against each other. With the victory, the Golden Bears improved to 25-5.
The Grizzlies concluded their season with a 21-8 overall record following their first ever trip to the postseason tournament, notching seven more victories than any previous squad in the program’s NCAA Division II-era history.
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