Hearts along with jaws were dropping in widespread fashion last Sunday, March 15, at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship Game in St. Charles.
The ninth-seeded Evansville Purple Aces (15-18) dumped Creighton 47-45 with a last-second shot to become the lowest seed in MVC Women’s Tournament history to win the title as well as the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The second-seeded Bluejays fell to 21-11 on the season, but are headed to the postseason for the fifth time in the past seven seasons. Head coach Jim Flanery noted the disappointment, but looked toward the upcoming WNIT game.
“Our kids will be excited to play UC Riverside on Saturday,” he said. “The heartbreak lasts for a couple of days and then it becomes easier to realize that you still get to keep playing and the (W)NIT is a great tournament with great teams.”
Junior forward Megan Neuvirth led the team with 11 rebounds and finished with nine points, one shy of a double-double. The team was led in scoring by sophomore guard Kelsey Woodard, who put up 18 points and recorded two steals on the night. She acknowledged the frustration, but realized the Jays’ season is not over yet.
“We are excited that our season is not over and are hoping to make a run in the WNIT,” Woodard said.
The game was one of repeated runs by both teams as there were a total of 11 lead changes with the final change coming with 0.3 seconds left on the clock as Evansville’s Amy Gallagher sank the game-winning 12-footer from the baseline. Neuvirth expressed her displeasure with outcome of the game.
“It was disappointing and frustrating,” she said. “We know we could have played better, however, and unfortunately it came down to a last second shot.”
Flanery saw this not only as a loss, but also as a building block for the postseason.
“Our kids have shown great heart and resiliency this year,” he said. “The fact is we didn’t play well enough over the course of the game to be in a position where something like that couldn’t happen. Certainly the game could have gone either way, but had we played better it probably wouldn’t come down to one shot.”
Several honors were awarded to the Bluejays as the tournament progressed.
Neuvirth was honored by the conference and was given the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year. But she was not shy to credit her team as a whole.
“It means a lot,” she said. “But my team is credited just as much as I am. As a team, we have applied a great amount of pressure to other teams allowing us to come out with a winning season.”
Aside from winning the MVC Defensive Player of the Year accolade, Neuvirth was selected to the All-Tournament team along with Woodard. This honor goes out to the best performers of the four-day long tournament.
Flanery kept looking toward their next game and using this loss as a reminder for
the team.
“Our group will be excited to play and that goes a long way in the WNIT,” he said. “If you’re disappointed you’re there and not in the NCAA tournament, you’re probably not going to have much success.”