Mar. 13, 2004
DOTHAN, Ala. - Junior forward Courtney Boynton hit two key foul shots with four seconds remaining as Lipscomb edged UCF, 64-62, in the 2004 Coca Cola/Herndon Shell Atlantic Sun Women's Basketball Championship game at the Dothan Civic Center on Saturday afternoon.
In its first year in the A-Sun, Lipscomb (20-11) won the conference crown and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Knights saw their season end with a 17-13 record.
UCF entered the second half with a five-point lead, but Lipscomb quickly tied the game at 36 all on an 8-3 run. The Lady Bisons took their first lead at 14:46 on two foul shots by freshman forward Keirsten Head. The Golden Knights, meanwhile, endured nearly five minutes without a field goal until junior center Ali Roberts hit a basket at 12:17.
Despite UCF's dry spell, the two teams continued to play tight as the score was tied 10 times and the lead changed hands on nine occasions. With 1:31 remaining to play, sophomore guard Celeste Hudson hit a three-pointer that put UCF up 62-61, but Kendra Ramsey was fouled on the subsequent play and made one of two attempts to tie the score once again at 62. The Golden Knights were whistled for the foul as Boynton was looking to set up the play and took advantage of her opportunities at the line.
For the second straight game, Roberts opened up scoring when she sank a left baseline shot. Her basket ignited a 13-3 run by the Golden Knights as the Lady Bisons suffered a five-minute offensive drought that was ended by Katie Beth Pate at 11:23. Lipscomb chipped away at the deficit and closed the gap to five at 2:26 on a trey from Head. She negated the play on the next possession by fouling Hudson, whose sank the three-pointer and the foul shot. The Golden Knights took a 33-28 lead into the intermission with nearly a third of those points coming from Roberts.
UCF shot 45.2% in the first half, but saw its production fall to 38% on the game. The Golden Knights turned over the ball twice as many times as Lipscomb and also failed to capitalize on their chances at the foul line, where they were 10-for-16 (62.5%). Lipscomb hit 18 of 24 opportunities from the charity stripe.
Individually, Hudson led both teams with 20 points and also grabbed a career-high 11 boards for her fifth career double-double, while Roberts contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double. Both earned all-tournament team recognition. Pate, who received the tournament's most valuable player award, topped all Lipscomb players with 15 points and 11 boards. Boynton and Stetson senior center Kristy Brown were also named to the all-tournament team.