Eagles Drop KIAC Title Game to Point Park
NEW ALBANY, Ind. – Asbury shot a season-low 28-percent and lost the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship game for the second straight year, falling to Point Park 67-58. The Eagles finish the season with a school-record 23 wins, the first 20-win season in program history.
The Eagles fell behind early and were never able to string together enough shots to retake the lead. They last led at 4-2. Despite shooting just 24-percent in the first half the Eagles were down just four, 27-23 at the break. Trenia Barbee recorded a double-double in the first half alone with 12 points and 10 rebounds. She finished with a game-high 30 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
Point Park kept the Eagles close in the first half by shooting only 32-percent. The teams traded baskets until a 10-2 run by Point Park pushed the lead out to 12, 47-35 with 12:37 to play. The Eagles responded with a 10-1 run of their own to bring the deficit back to three but the Pioneers answered with seven of the next 10 points.
Asbury made their final push late, cutting the lead back to four at 60-56 with 47 seconds left but Asbury wouldn’t score again and PPU made 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to win their first KIAC Tournament Championship in their first season in the league. The Pioneers were also the regular season champions.
The Eagles grabbed 21 offensive rebounds but managed just 17 second chance points, shooting 28-percent for the game. Asbury made only 3-of-14 from beyond the arc and 13-of-19 from the foul line. Point Park shot 52-percent in the second half and 41-percent for the game. The Pioneers connected on 6-of-16 from long range, four coming from Teresa Davis, and also made 19-of-32 from the charity stripe.
The Eagles had no other player in double figures in the game besides Barbee. Annissia Wood finished with nine points. Kelli Rinehart and Lakin Griffith each had nine rebounds as the Eagles grabbed 51. Point Park finished with 44 rebounds as the teams combined to miss 84 field goals. Ja’Nia McPhatter led PPU with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Asbury’s five seniors finish their career with 67 wins, the most in a four year span. They have also recorded the first winning season in 2011-12 and the first 20-win season this year. Laura Carroll wraps up a stellar career with the most points in school history with 1,654. She’s also second in assists with 413. Trenia Barbee sets school records with 755 points this season, 24.4 points per game average this season and a career 20.7 points per game average. She finishes 5th on the all-time scoring list with 1,264 points in just two seasons. Lakin Griffith, also a 1,000 point scorer finishes second in rebounds with 936 and 7th in points with 1,192.
