Late comeback stuns ThunderWolves against Kearney

KEARNEY, Neb. - With five minutes remaining in the ThunderWolves' game against Nebraska-Kearney, it was all but over. The ThunderWolves held a 13-point lead, 67-54, and cruise control took over.

But Nebraska-Kearney, the team that was just one win away from taking the regional championship in last season's NCAA Division II Championships, showed the moxy of a championship team, going on a 19-6 run to force overtime and eventually overtake the ThunderWolves 77-71.

With 17 seconds left in regulation, Kearney's leading scorer, Amy Mathis, who didn't hit a field goal until the 9:25 mark in the second half, nailed a big three to bring the Lopers within one. After Lindsay Black was fouled, she hit one of two free throws, giving the Lopers another chance, trailing 64-62.

Jade Meads took the ensuing shot for the Lopers with eight seconds remaining, but missed. Luckily for Kearney, they got the offensive board, tying the game on the put back by Megan Becker and sending the game to overtime.

In the overtime period, Kearney's momentum took over and all but buried the stunned ThunderWolves. The Lopers quickly opened up the extra period on a 7-2 run, forcing the Pack to play catch up. The ThunderWolves got within two with 1:20 remaining, but fouls that sent Mathis to the line, who was 10-for-10 from the charity stripe, recovering from a scoreless first half to finish with 23 points and 15 rebounds, doomed the Pack.

"The bottom line is we just didn't finish the ball game," ThunderWolves coach Kip Drown said. "We panicked, missed free throws down the stretch, while Kearney made all the plays you need to to win. I tip my hat to them."

Mathis' hot streak leading the Lopes directly coincided with a cold streak by the ThunderWolves' leading scorer, Lindsay Black. With 13 minutes remaining in regulation and the Pack up to its high lead of 16, 48-32, Black only mustered one more point after scoring 17 up until that point.

"[Starting center] Sarah Staggs got in some foul trouble, and we had to move Lindsay to the inside," Drown said. "That isn't her natural position and it made things tough for us."

More than hot and cold streaks, it was the Lopers' dominance on the boards and at the line that buried the ThunderWolves. Nebraska-Kearney took down 57 rebounds, including 29 offensive rebounds, and was 22-for-25 from the free throw line. Bu the time it was all over, the Lopers had five players score in double figures, and they absolutely rocked the offensive boards.

"If we rebound like we should, we have a 8 or 10-point win tonight," Drown said. "We knew going in that they were the number-one rebounding team in the RMAC, but we made them look like the number-one rebounding team in the nation, and that's something we just can't do."

The stunning loss leaves the Pack looking for redemption on the back end of their trip to Nebraska, taking on Chadron State Saturday.

"It's disappointing that we played that hard for 35 minutes and not come away with the win," Drown said. "Now it's a character issue for us. We're 2-3 in the conference, and it's not about trying to win the Western Division anymore, it's about just trying to make the playoffs. We need to go to Chadron and get a win so we can get to where we want to be."

The Pack's loss drops them to 8-5 overall and 2-3 in RMAC play. Kearney improves to 10-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play.