Last Second 3 Pointer Falls Short in Lions' 78-75 Loss to SWOSU

A last-second 3-point field goal attempt by Texas A&M University-Commerce junior Mattilyn McIntyre fell short on Wednesday night in the John McLendon Senior Night at the Field House.

With the missed 3-point field goal attempt, Southwestern Oklahoma State edged A&M-Commerce by a 78-75 margin. 

Southwestern Oklahoma State took the lead with 16:59 left in the first half and never relinquished the advantage en route to the win. The victory raises the Bulldogs’ record to 2-23, 2-10 Lone Star Conference North Division. 

A&M-Commerce, who was playing with only seven players, falls to 4-20 and 1-11 in the LSC North in the loss. 

SWOSU had three players in double figures including Jenna Sprague, who had a double double with 24 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in the win. Ashley Rush and Madison Cabaniss joined her in double figures, scoring 17 and 11 points, respectively. 

A&M-Commerce also had three players in double figures including McIntyre, who had her second double double of the season with a game-high 26 points and team-high 10 rebounds. Senior Ashley Murphy, who was recognized in pre-game festivities, scored a season-high 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds and sophomore Tiffany Mitchell added 12 more. 

The two teams exchanged the lead in the opening minutes of the contest until a lay up by Sprague put the visitors ahead by a 9-8 margin with 16:59. SWOSU extended its lead on a 13-4 run for 22-12 lead over the next five minutes of the contest. 

SWOSU went into the halftime break with a 38-33 lead due in part to shooting 48.5% from the field and holding the Lions to just 35.1%. 

The Lions refused to concede in the second half. Trailing 72-64 after an Ashley Rush jumper with 2:41 left to go in the game. A&M-Commerce scored eight of the next 10 points to cut the deficit to two, 74-72 with 1:07 remaining. SWOSU extended its lead by two to four, 76-72, with two free throws with 48 seconds to go. 

After an A&M-Commerce 30-second timeout, McIntyre took her own offensive rebound and was fouled on a 3-point field goal attempt. The Texarkana, Texas native calmly made all three free throws to cut the deficit to 1, 76-75 with 30 seconds. 

The Lions were forced to foul and Natasha Brown made two more free throws to extend the margin to three, which proved to be the final margin as McIntyre missed a 3 pointer with less than a second to go. 

A&M-Commerce will close out its 2009-10 season on Saturday at 2 pm when they travel to Lawton, Oklahoma to face Cameron University.