Shooting Woes Plague Lady Warriors At National Tournament

ROCHESTER, Minn. ---- The No. 8 Massasoit Warriors fell behind in the first half and could not recover, dropping a 68-53 contest to No. 5 Sullivan County CC (N.Y.) on Friday at the NJCAA Division III Women's Basketball National Tournament.

Massasoit (16-8) awaits to play the loser between No. 2 Ogandaga and No. 6 West Georgia Tech at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday to close out tournament action.

The Warriors, just like Thursday against Rock Valley were able to press the Generals into committing miscues, a total of 32 turnovers, featuring 20 steals. Unfortunately, Massasoit was unable to capitalize on its opportunities, shooting just 20.9 percent (18-for-86) overall from the floor. In fact, the Warriors shot the same in each half, 9-for-43.

"I think our press was effective and gave us plenty of chances to score, but we could not finish on the offensive end," head coach Mark Brathwaite said. "And we played as individuals and not as a team."

Massasoit finished with 16 more shots than Sullivan County, 86 to 70, but the Generals shot slightly better overall at 35.7 percent (25-for-70).

"We hurt ourselves. We were not keeping our spacing on the floor and not running the offense like we can," Brathwaite said. "(Sullivan County) did a good job of clogging the middle and helping on defense that shut down some of our dribble drive. We just couldn't knock down any shots."

Sullivan County (26-3) built up a 40-23 lead at the break, thanks to shooting 47.1 percent as a team and receiving 15 of 19 points from shooting guard Briana Rhett prior to halftime.

The Green and White played neck and neck with Sullivan County after intermission and actually outscored the Generals 30-28. However, the big first half hole proved to be too much as the Warriors were unable to get any closer than 14 points.

Ashley Andrade (Randolph) paced Massasoit with a double-double, scoring 18 points and adding 12 rebounds, seven on the offensive glass. Fredi Lawson (Boston/J.E. Burke HS) chipped in with 11 points and nine rebounds, as her streak of consecutive double-doubles came to an end at 12 straight games.

"Ashley (Andrade) was the lone Warrior out there for us," Brathwaite said. "She tried her hardest to carry us with her effort, but we just couldn't string anything together as a team."

Tianna Johnson (Brockton/New Mission HS) added eight points and Tiana McQueen (Mattapan/Boston English) and Cynara Rustin (Brockton/Minutemen Regional) each scored seven.

Sullivan County was led by Regina Steele's 21 points and 12 rebounds. Rhett added 19 including a trio of 3-pointers.

NOTES: Massasoit has forced 55 turnovers through two tournament games…Warriors are only shooting 24.4 (41-for-168) at the tournament…Massasoit has attempted 30 more shots than its opponents at the tournament (168 to 138)…Lawson has scored in double figures in all 23 games she has played in this season.