BEL AIR, Md. - The No. 1 Harford women's basketball team advanced to the 2013 MD JUCO Semifinals with a nail-biting 58-57 victory over No. 8 Southern Maryland on Thursday.
Tiffany Taylor connected on a 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining for the game-winner.
Taylor led all scorers with 31 points and eight 3-pointers, including six after intermission, in the come-fom-behind win. The sophomore almost single-handedly brought the Fighting Owls back from a nine point deficit, but her final shot attempt was possibly the biggest of her illustrious career.
Harford trailed at the break 27-25, and quickly fell behind 35-26 before a 22-4 run flipped the script into a 48-39 Harford advantage. Taylor scored 14 points and hit four triples in the spurt, but the Hawks would not go away.
After a
Bree Lewis layup upped the Fighting Owl lead to 55-45 with 5:47 remaining, Southern Maryland scored 12 consecutive points, taking a 57-55 lead on an Alex Manning layup with 1:14 left.
Harford drew up a play for Taylor, and she connected on her eighth triple to give Harford the one-point lead, but that was not the end of the drama. Southern Maryland waited until 18 seconds left to take their final shot attempt, a Morgan Jordan missed jumper, but the rebound went out of bounds off of Harford.
During one last attempt for CSM,
Shelby Key was whistled for a foul, sending Manning to the line for a one-and-one attempt, with a chance to tie or take the lead. She missed the front end, and Harford grabbed the rebound and held on for the win.
The Fighting Owls faced an uphill battle in the second half, as Taylor, Key and
Capree Garner each had four fouls with 13:25 remaining in the second half. Only Key fouled out with 2.7 seconds remaining.
Harford only went to the free throw line just six times, twice in the second half. Garner chipped in with 17 points and six rebounds. Key handed out six assists and nabbed six steals in the win.
The Fighting Owls move on the Saturday's semifinal round against No. 4 CCBC Dundalk at 1 p.m. The other two top seeds, No. 2 Chesapeake and No. 3 Montgomery, also advanced.
