Tarbert sets DIII double-double mark, but in MACC semis loss
It was a bittersweet moment for the Stevenson Mustangs women’s basketball team and their star forward Sara Tarbert. The sure-fire All-American set the NCAA Division III women’s basketball record with her 27th-consecutive double-double – a streak dating back to last season – as she scored 21 points with 15 rebounds, but the third-seeded Mustangs’ ousted in the semifinals of the MAC Commonwealth tournament as they fell to the second-seeded Messiah Falcons, 78-55.
Stevenson was riding a four-game winning streak into the postseason. They now stand at 17-9. They only hope at a national postseason lies in the potential at an ECAC berth. The 16-team field will be announced on Monday, February 27 after the NCAA Tournament is selected.
The Falcons got out to as hot of a start as Stevenson’s was slow. Stevenson trailed 21-9 after one quarter. Tarbert was shot out and held to only one shot in the period but she did have six rebounds that helped her one her was to her record-setting double-double.
Tarbert was able to get going in the second quarter and actually completed her double-double before halftime as she scored 14 points with another five rebounds. Stevenson for 46.7-percent from the floor in the second quarter and trimmed their deficit to five points with a halftime score of 35-30.
Stevenson then tied the game just two and a half minutes into the second half and took a lead not too long later as Tarbert completed a three-point play and sparked a 14-4 Stevenson run to put them ahead 44-39.
But Stevenson couldn’t stay hot. Messiah tightened up defensively and shut the Mustangs out for a few seconds shy of the final four minutes of the period. Messiah took advantage with nine-straight points to take a 48-44 lead back by the quarter’s end.
That run continued on to become 15-straight and even further to be a 23-2 Messiah run as they took a double-digit lead and led 62-46 with 5:10 remaining in the game.
Stevenson shot only 2-for-11 from the floor in the fourth quarter. Messiah was red-hot going 11-for-14. Tarbert was held to only two points coming off a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter and Stevenson was outscored 30-11 on their way to the double-digit loss.
Corey Johns
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