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by CORY WATSON
Sports Reporter
It came down to free throws Friday as the Appalachian State University women’s basketball team fell to visiting Marshall University, 67-65.
Appalachian led most of the evening, until the Black and Gold found itself in a hole with less than a minute left in regulation for the first time since midway through the first half.
 Frances Hernandez works around Marshall University guard Rashedah Henriques during the women’s first home basketball game Friday. Hernandez scored 13 points for the Mountaineers despite the 67-65 loss. Photo by Alisha Park |
Trailing
by three after Marshall guard Alix Barnette sank two free throws with
seven seconds remaining, ASU quickly moved the ball down the court to
attempt a game-tying three-point shot.
Mountaineer guard Frances Hernandez found herself open from three-point range and took a shot with 5.4 seconds remaining.
Hernandez
missed the shot, but in a stroke of luck, was fouled by Barnette and
given a chance to tie the game with three free throws.
Chances of victory were significantly reduced when Hernandez’s first shot rimmed out.
Hernandez
then made her second and missed the third intentionally, in hopes of a
tip-in as time expired, but Mountaineer forward
Catherine Williams was unable to sink the game tying shot.
Despite the results from the free throw line at the end of the game, new head coach Darcie Vincent stated her confidence in
Hernandez’s ability to be successful in tough situations.
“I
wouldn’t want anyone else on that free throw line but Frances,” Vincent
said. “She’s got to be hoping for the next three years of her career
that she’s going to get that exact same opportunity.”
Other
than the missed free throws at the end of the game, Hernandez appeared
to have the hot hand from three-point range, shooting 4-7 from the arc.
Three of
Hernandez’s three-point shots came in a span of two minutes midway
through the second half, forcing Marshall to burn a timeout.
She finished second on the team scoring 13 points.
“It’s
tough,” Hernandez said about the loss. “But I’m ready to learn from it.
Coach Vincent has confidence in me and she will have confidence in me.”
Vincent
wouldn’t pin the loss on the free throws at the end of the game,
instead noting the Mountaineers’ struggles in gaining offensive
rebounds.
“We got
beat up on the boards, which I didn’t like obviously,” Vincent said.
“Hopefully now the kids will realize, that’s the thing, in practice
you’ve got to be serious about it.
You take 10 of [Marshall’s offensive rebounds] away and you win the game by 20 points or so.”
Appalachian will travel to Greenville to face East Carolina University today in search of their first win of the season.
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