2008 Woodie Awards
Women's season ends with 1st-round blowout
Matt Sohn
Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: Sports
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Entering the showdown averaging a shade over 25 points per game, she poured in 34 points as the Broncos ended the RedHawks' season with a 74-58 victory Sunday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
"You can see why (Moore) is the Co-MAC Player of the Year," Miami Head Coach Maria Fantanarosa said about the player who earned the Player of the Year award, along with Bowling Green's Ali Mann, just a day earlier. "We tried a couple different things on her but she is very competitive and makes everyone else on that team look good."
The RedHawks had shown little promise in the games leading up to the tournament that they'd be able to handle the inside/outside game of the league's signature star.
Miami came into Cleveland on the heels of a four-game losing streak, including a 92-62 blowout loss to Bowling Green in the regular-season finale, and wasted little time taking an early deficit Sunday. The Broncos controlled the tempo from the onset, scoring the game's first six points.
Although the 'Hawks were able to knot the score at 13, it was merely a temporary fix as the Broncos went on an ensuing 13-2 run to distance themselves in the game that ended in a rout.
"As a team I felt like we couldn't get things going offensively and defensively," Fantanarosa said. "I felt like it was a struggle. When we got open shots they didn't fall. That has been the story of the year right now for our team."
Despite their struggles in their prior games, the RedHawks had reason to be confident about their tournament prospects. Their six conference victories were twice as many as they earned in 2005-06, and they boasted their own first-team All-MAC player in shooting guard Amanda Jackson.
Their 6-10 conference record gave them the No. 4 seed in the MAC East, whereas the Broncos' identical record put them as the No. 5 seed in the West.
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