Lady Tigers fall short

  • Published
  • By Courtesy of Tyndall Lady Tiger
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The Tyndall Air Force Base Lady Tigers varsity basketball team came up short in their quest for a perfect season.

The Tyndall squad, which entered the tourney as the number one seed with a 10-0 record, lost twice to the Ft. Benning Lady Bandits, to finish second in the annual Southeastern Military Athletic Conference post-season basketball tournament Feb. 23-24 at Ft. Benning, Ga.

Game 1

In Tyndall's first game against the host Ft. Benning Bandits on Saturday, the Tiger's offense struggled. Ft. Benning geared its defense to stopping the Tiger's forward, Tiffanie Guthrie. The Bandits held Tyndall to a season-low 25 points in the first half, as Tigers were down 38-25.

In the second half, Tyndall made a run to get within three points, 50-47, but a five-minute scoring drought sealed their first defeat of the season. The final score was Bandits 82, Tigers 63.

Monica Mason paced the Tigers in scoring with 21 points, followed by Guthrie's 20 and Richere Harrison's 10 points. Harrison led in assists with four and Guthrie led in rebounding with 12. Tiffanie Tompkins led the Bandits in scoring with a game-high 23 points.

Game 2

The loss dropped Tyndall into the losers' bracket where they faced the Keesler Air Force Base Lady Dragons on Sunday. The Lady Tigers, behind Guthrie's and Harrison's 15 points each, led Tyndall to a 48-30 first-half lead.

The Tigers cruised to victory and won 74-61.

Guthrie was Tyndall's leading scorer with 23 points. Harrison added 19, while Mason collected 16 points in the game.

Game 3

Game three against the Eglin AFB Lady Eagles, would determine who would advance to the championship to play the Ft. Benning Bandits. Mason's 14 first-half points gave the Tigers a comfortable lead, 43-28, at the half.

Tyndall did not look back as they cruised to an 85-56 victory.

Tyndall's leading scorer in the game was Harrison with a game-high 22 points. Mason and Guthrie put up 18 and 17 points respectively. Tonya Reid led Eglin with 15 points.

Game 4

After a 30-minute rest period, Tyndall was in the championship game against the Bandits squad. Like their first meeting, the Bandits focused their defensive effort toward shutting down Tyndall's Guthrie. Guthrie was limited to two points in the first half. Bandits lead 36-27 at the half.

The Tigers roared back in the second half. Guthrie's 22 second-half points and Mason's 13 points helped Tyndall take a 72-71 lead with a minute left in the game. Ft. Benning proved to be too much for the Tigers, as they ended the game 77-74, giving the Bandits their third consecutive post-season championship.

Guthrie's 24 and Mason's 20 points were not enough to capture a win. Bandit's McKinney was named most valuable player of the tourney.