COLUMBUS — Home-court advantage wasn’t in the favor of Mississippi University for Women on Saturday as the Owls lost twice to Westminster College at Pohl Gymnasium.
Of the two games, the men’s game ended up being the more thrilling and exciting contest despite The W holding a 69-58 lead with 7:19 to play in the second half.
A win seemed all but a formality for MUW, but a late charge from the Blue Jays cut the score to 75-73 before a key technical foul called against Tyson Smithey with 42 seconds left in regulation allowed Westminster to tie things up at 75-75.
Then, a foul on the ensuing in-bounds play allowed the Jays to take the lead, making 1-of-2 at the line. Unfortunately, the Owls (6-10, 2-7 SLIAC) went ice cold down the stretch, missing a pair of threes that would have given them the lead or tied the game.
Westminster was nearly perfect at the foul line in the final 42 seconds of play, shooting 7-of-8, including the two technical free throws, to sneak out of Columbus with an 80-75 win.
Five MUW players finished the game in double-figures, led by a 19-point, eight-rebound performance from Josh Dukes.
Things weren’t nearly as close in the women’s game despite a close first half that saw the Jays going into the break with just a 34-31 lead.
That didn’t last long as the Owls were out-scored, 50-22, in the second half, eventually losing 84-53 to Westminster.
Poor shooting was the story on the day for MUW (5-8, 4-5 SLIAC), shooting 28 percent from the field and 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from three-point range. A solid day at the line, shooting 80 percent, went by the wayside as a close first half gave way to a blowout loss.
A lone bright spot for The W in the loss was junior Conley Langford recording her fourth double-double of the season, a 29-point, 12-rebound effort while shooting 8-of-14 from the field and 12-of-13 at the line.
She became the modern-day leading scorer in Owls program history as a result, a mark she’ll continue to build upon for the remainder of her career in Columbus.
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