Box Score Colorado College fell short in a disappointing first round of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championships. The Tigers dropped a 68-42 decision to host Austin College on Friday afternoon in Sherman, Texas.
After making its third consecutive appearance in the SCAC Championships, No. 6 seed CC proved to be no match for No. 3 seed Austin on its home court.
The Tigers made only 13 shots on 47 attempts for a meager 27.7 field-goal percentage, while the Kangaroos shot a hot 48.9 field-goal percentage on 22 makes in 45 attempts.
Austin held an 8-7 lead early in the first half after senior
Kalli Kemling made two free throws to pull CC within a point with 16:43 left in the half.
Those were the last points the Tigers saw for over nine minutes as the Kangaroos went on a 15-0 run that was capped by a pair of free throws by Brittany Stepanski with 7:47 remaining on the clock. Kemling ended CC's drought with a layup at the 7:27 mark in the first half.
Austin continued to build its lead closing out the half on a 17-10 run to go into halftime with a solid 40-19 advantage after 20 minutes of play.
CC played stronger defensively in the second half never giving up a field goal from long range and forcing Austin into 12 turnovers, but the Tigers were unable to eliminate its first half deficit.
CC was led by Kemling and sophomore
Courtney Tyus with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Kemling also led the team with eight rebounds and five steals on defense.
The Kangaroos, who improved to 12-14 on the season and advance to the second round of the SCAC Championships, were led by Stepanski and Shayna Clardy with 16 points each. Erin Riley also scored in double figures with 11 points. Stepanski led the defense with nine rebounds.
Colorado College finished the season with a 4-22 record and a 4-11 record in conference play.
