Women's Basketball | Gone in 100 seconds

It was early Friday night, and once again the women's basketball team found its improbable season on the brink of ending. After silencing critics by finishing as runners-up in the NESCAC and proving their worth by reaching the Sweet 16 for just the second time in school history, the Jumbos seemed overmatched by the 28-1 St. Thomas Tommies, who had a towering height advantage and used it to stretch its lead to 14 points in the second half. With the score at 40-26 and just over nine minutes to play, the outlook was glum for Tufts.

But then the shots started to fall. Senior co-captain forward Kate Barnosky finished a three-point play before freshman guard Kelsey Morehead buried a pair of shots from beyond the arc. Suddenly, with less than two minutes to play, the deficit was down to two.

What followed in those last 100 seconds was a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, lucky bounces and bad breaks, clutch moments and questionable decisions. The Daily sat down with Barnosky, Morehead, sophomore guard Liz Moynihan and senior guard Tiffany Kornegay to break it down, moment by moment.

1:40 remaining; St. Thomas 46, Tufts 43

As the Jumbos went through their typical half-court progression of perimeter passes, Kornegay received the ball at the top of the key with no defenders within 10 feet of her. This treatment was not atypical for Kornegay, as she had not attempted a single three-pointer since Nov. 29.

But as one of just two seniors on the team, Kornegay decided to take the task of extending her final season as a Jumbo into her own hands.
 
"I was open, so I just decided to shoot it, and that's what I did," Kornegay said. "There's no reason specifically, but it was an open shot, so I thought 'why not shoot it?' It may not have been the best choice, but that's the choice I made at the time."

The shot's trajectory was on line. From the sideline, it looked as though it might just be headed in.

"My first thought was, 'this is going in,' because when [Tiffany] shoots threes, for some reason they tend to go in," Moynihan said.

But the shot missed right and deflected hard off the backboard. A Tufts player managed to tip it out as it came down into the crowded paint. Kornegay - who finished second in the NESCAC in rebounding for the season - wasted no time following up her shot.

"There were a bunch of people in the paint, and they were all going for it," Kornegay said. "I was at the top of the key, so when it came to me I grabbed it, and [Kate] was open, so I passed it under to her."

Barnosky couldn't get a clean shot off, but she was hacked on her way up, sending her to the line for two.

1:29; St. Thomas 46, Tufts 43

Barnosky, the team's only other senior, was also one of Tufts' best free-throw shooters, posting a 74.7 percent mark for the season. She had already made some key free throws in the NCAA tournament this year - including a 9-for-10 effort in the second round - and had sunk her only prior attempt from the charity stripe that night. Still, none of those shots could compare to these two.

"I felt pretty good," Barnosky said. "I hit a bunch of foul shots last weekend, so I was just trying to stay in that same mindset."

She once again proved just how strong a leader she was, draining both and cutting the margin to one for the first time since the intermission.

0:58; St. Thomas 46, Tufts 45

With their deficit down to one, the Jumbos elected to hold off on fouling and instead try their luck at getting a defensive stop. The Tommies ran as much time off the clock as possible before executing a play, which - thanks to the Jumbos' fourth-ranked defense - led to a well-contested and off-balance shot. But as the ball kicked off the rim, things took a turn for the worse.

"I know I was right there, and I tried to box her out," Barnosky said. "It took a weird bounce ... I had her boxed out, but one way or another she got it. That's just how basketball goes sometimes. We tried to do everything we could."

It was none other than Tommies senior Sarah Smith who came down with it. With both teams struggling in the early going, Smith had the first six points of the game and finished with a double-double and a perfect 7-for-7 shooting night from the field. But none of that was as important as this moment, because her rebound and immediate put-back once again extended St. Thomas' lead.

0:30; St. Thomas 48, Tufts 45

The Jumbos, needing an immediate response, settled on one of their favorite plays for the following possession: Low.

"Low is just give [Kate] the ball and everyone get low," Moynihan said. "It seems to work every time."

Morehead fed her the ball and let her go to work. But Barnosky had been cold from the field all night, and had made just one jump shot to that point in the contest.

"I was pretty frustrated all game," Barnosky said. "I kind of felt out of it, especially offensively. But down the stretch I kind of got into it. I really wanted it, so I tried to get myself together mentally and attacked, which I think helped our whole team get back into it."

Working on the near baseline, she managed to create just enough space to take a step back and get off a clean shot. Once again, she came through and the lead was back down to one. With no time to hold for a defensive stop, Kornegay quickly fouled sophomore Taylor Young, sending her to the line for two shots.

0:27; St. Thomas 48, Tufts 47

Young, the Tommies' leading scorer, was 7-for-7 from the line already and had shot just under 83 percent on free throws during the season. But with the pressure on, she missed both. The Jumbos boxed out well, preventing yet another offensive rebound. They ran it across half court before calling timeout with the momentum on their side.

0:21; St. Thomas 48, Tufts 47
 
With 21 seconds left, the Jumbos had a variety of options at their disposal. They could have gone for a quick try - guaranteeing a second chance if they missed by fouling immediately thereafter - or they could have held for the last shot, leaving it all up to one do-or-die moment. In the huddle, coach Carla Berube decided on the latter.

"We were going to run the play with 12 seconds to go ... dagger," Morehead said.

"The plan was to get it in to Kelsey and have her dribble it around for a little bit and set up the play to get me the ball on the right side to attack," Barnosky said. "The goal was don't take a jump shot unless I was really open, and just try to attack and either get a good layup or get to the line."

As played resumed, Morehead came off a screen from Barnosky at the top of the key and received the ball from Moynihan near half court. But just as Morehead began to square herself up to the basket to begin the play, the referee whistled to halt the action. The explanation: the clock had started slowly.

"It started a little slow," Morehead said. "It said 19 [seconds] when it should have said 17."

It was not the first time the scorer's table had made an error that night, but it would prove to be the costliest of their blunders; the Jumbos were forced to inbound again, and the two seconds that had run off the clock before the referee's whistle were not added back on.

0:19; St. Thomas 48, Tufts 47

The Jumbos chose to run the exact same play again - but this time, the Tommies were ready.

"The problem was that because we had just run that play, they all knew it was coming," Morehead said. "So my girl was cheating over the screen too far to defend the far pass and [Kate's] girl was defending the area where I came out open, so even when I was out there it made it really hard to get a pass in to me."

Morehead once again came off of a Barnosky screen, but this time a defender was close on her heels. Moynihan knew the pass was dangerous from the moment it left her hands.

"I think I threw it too close to Kelsey, and the girl knew it was coming," Moynihan said. "If I'd thrown it farther Kelsey could have chased it down, but this girl got her hand on it."

It was junior Kellie Ring, the Tommies' leader in steals, who was able to do just enough to take the ball away. While the play involved some physicality, Tufts quickly dismissed the possibility that a foul had been committed.

"I feel like refs aren't going to make that kind of call at that point in the game," Morehead said.

"There's always some contact," Barnosky added.

Ring had all of her momentum heading towards the far basket, while Morehead was flat-footed at midcourt. But the freshman was able to recover, catching up to Ring and fouling her before she could put away the easy layup.

"I wasn't ready for the game to end," Morehead said. "All I could think of was to not let her score. They missed their last two free throws, [so I] might as well keep the chance alive."

Ring hit both, but it was still a one-possession game.


0:15; St. Thomas 50, Tufts 47

What happened next is not completely clear; Barnosky described it as "a blur." Morehead brought the ball up to half court quickly, but then confusion set in.

"My assumption was that I was going to bring it to half court and that [coach] was going to call a timeout," Morehead said. "But then nobody made a call. So I passed it to [Kate]."

Some of the Jumbos thought they were once again running 'dagger,' while Barnosky was simply looking for an open shot.

"[Coach] was screaming 'run it' for the last five seconds because she thought we were on the same page, but we weren't," Moynihan said. "It was loud in there, so it was really hard to hear what she was saying."


"I ended up with the ball at the top of the key, and I knew we needed a three," Barnosky added. "I wasn't sure if we had a timeout, but I kind of figured we did. It was chaos. We didn't really know what to do. We didn't have a play set up."

While the team felt confused at the time, the Jumbos agreed that Berube's decision not to use a timeout was likely the right one.

 "If we called timeout, I feel like their defense was just going to get set up to defend the perimeter," Morehead said. "So maybe in a sense it was the smarter idea to not call a timeout."

With the seconds ticking away and Barnosky unable to find an open look, she eventually passed the ball on to Moynihan. But Moynihan had no time or separation, and her final desperation try was tipped, falling well short of the basket as the buzzer sounded.

"I was looking for Liz, since she was probably our best three-point option out there," Barnosky said. "She wasn't really open, so I was kind of looking for myself. I couldn't find anything so I eventually got it to her. I knew I wasn't giving it to her in a good spot, but there was nothing really we could do. Nothing was really open."

A hard-fought contest like the one against St. Thomas is undoubtedly one of the toughest ways to end a season. But looking back, the players remain proud of what they accomplished - for the year, and on Friday night.

"Nothing is easy, but I am glad we didn't get blown out," Kornegay said. "The fact that we brought it so close and fought hard, it's much easier to take a loss that way. We didn't give up. That's not us."