DeLand, Fla. - The Stetson women's basketball team (1-10) rallied from a 23-point second half deficit to within four points with under two and a half minutes remaining, but visiting Buffalo (3-9) ultimately held off the Hatters for a 65-53 win in the consolation game of the Hatter Classic Tuesday afternoon at the Edmunds Center. Sophomore guard Kerri Simpson (Charleston, Tenn.) scored a team-high 16 points with five rebounds and three steals while junior guard Tierra Brown (Orlando, Fla.) collected 14 points and tied her season high with six assists. Brown was named to the All-Tournament Team.
A sluggish start by the Hatters allowed Buffalo to head into the locker room leading 35-21 at halftime; the Bulls pushed that advantage to 53-30 with 10:48 remaining on an Abby Dowd three-pointer. Stetson began its comeback effort at that point, scoring the game's next 14 points to cut the deficit to 53-44 with 5:40 left.
The Hatters kept attacking, ultimately pushing the run to 23-4. Brown made a driving layup while being fouled with 2:22 to play, squeezing Buffalo's lead to 57-53. Unfortunately, she could not get the free throw to go down and Stetson would not score again; the Bulls finished the game on a 12-0 spurt of their own to lock up the victory.
Brown's performance, paired with her 21-point, five-assist stat line yesterday against St. Francis (Pa.) earned her Stetson's spot on the All-Tournament Team. Simpson also had a successful tournament, averaging 16.5 points per game. Junior forward Jessica Conner (Cocoa, Fla.) scored seven points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while freshman guard Dashauna Truss (Jacksonville, Fla.) tied her season high with nine points, contributing three assists, two rebounds and two steals as well.
All-Tournament honoree Kourtney Brown led Buffalo to the win with 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Nicki Hopkins scored 12 points and Abby Dowd added 10 for the Bulls. St. Francis (Pa.) won the tournament with a 60-57 victory over American in the championship game; Red Flash guard Britney Hodges averaged 21.1 ppg in the two victories and was named MVP of the Hatter Classic. Michelle Kirk scored 16 points for American and took home All-Tournament honors for the Eagles.
With the non-conference slate completed, the Hatters turn their attention to the final 18 games of the Atlantic Sun Conference schedule. The journey re-starts Saturday, January 2 at Lipscomb, where tip-off at Allen Arena is slated for 1 p.m. Central Time (2 p.m. Eastern Time). A-Sun.TV will broadcast the contest, as well as the second half of the Nashville swing, a 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET) tip-off at Belmont on Monday, January 4.
