The AMC Conference Tournament came to a crashing halt for the Lady Raiders (19-11) on Saturday against NAIA #5 ranked Walsh University (26-4) in a game played at Alumni Arena on the Walsh Campus.
Roberts, which had won four straight road games coming into the contest, was playing Walsh for the third time this, and the second time in two weeks. The teams battled it out early in a first half that featured eight lead changes and two ties. After a jumper by Raider senior point guard
Tiffany Wilson (Rochester, NY) closed the game to 18 – 17, the Cavaliers closed the first half on a 11 – 6 run led by guards Amanda Bennett (6 points)and Daniella Ciccarone (6 points). Walsh would lead 29 – 23 at the half.
The teams traded baskets in the early second half, before Walsh went on a 13 – 2 run to break things open for good. Senior guard Jessie Miller (15 points) drained back to back three pointers within 17 seconds of each other to put Walsh up 50 – 29. After a Raider timeout,
Brittany McMillon (SR, Lyons, NY) hit a jumper, but the Cavaliers senior forward Cara Bedard (game high 19 points) immediately responded with a jumper of her own. Roberts Wesleyan would get no closer, as Walsh won for the 21
st straight time.
Roberts was led by McMillon, who posted another double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Junior forward
Bianca Jones (Long Island City, NY) added 7 points and 7 rebounds. Guard
Marissa Bunce (SO, Phelps, NY) contributed 6 points and 3 rebounds, while Wilson added 5 points, 2 assists and 2 steals.
“Walsh is certainly deserving of their ranking. They have a veteran team and they play extremely hard and smart, but I was proud of the way our kids fought,” said Raider coach
Bob Segave. “We have battled all year long to try to reach our goals. We never lost sight of where we wanted to be. We just fell short against an excellent opponent that is playing as well as anyone in the nation. Walsh had dominated the boards and the free throw line the last two times we played them and we were pretty even in both areas today. Our turnovers were way too high to expect to win against them.”
Roberts Wesleyan is eligible for the NCCAA National Tournament being held March 17 – 19, 2011 at Grace College in Winona Lake, IN. The Lady Raiders will wait for the NAIA tournament selection and NCCAA East Regional bids to come out and hope to compete for an opportunity to advance. NAIA tournament bids will be announced on Wednesday March 2, 2011 and the NCCAA tournament picture should clear up at that point.
