Tournament: NJCAA Division I National Tournament First Round
Final Score: #16 Harford Fighting Owls 79 -  #17 Odessa Wranglers 85
Records: #16 Harford 27-3 | #17 Odessa 23-10
Location: Lubbock, Texas - RIP Griffin Center at Lubbock Christian University
The Short Story: The Fighting Owls incredible fourth quarter comeback fell just short as Harford closed a 17 point deficit down to one in the final minutes of the game. Tianna Swearinger scored 25 points in the game to lead all scorers as Harford outscored Odessa 25-15 in the fourth quarter.
Box Score: Click Here
Photo Gallery: Coming Soon

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Harford jumped out to a great start with Shawnkia McCallum finding Destinee McQueen for an easy layup followed by an Adrienne Jones steal which led to a Jewel Porter three pointer.
• The Odessa Wranglers stormed right back with a 15-0 run including three straight from long range forcing Harford to call a timeout.
• Tianna Swearinger knocked down a clutch three pointer right after the break, but Harford's forwards started to get in foul trouble as Porter and McQueen both picked up their second fouls midway through the second quarter.
• Joy Morton made a fantastic spin move and left handed layup to start the second quarter, but the Wranglers continued to use their size to score points in the paint at will.
• McCallum read an Odessa inbound play beautifully and took it the other way for a fast break baseline jumper followed by another Swearinger long ball as Harford cut down the Wrangler's lead to 35-23.
• With McCallum forced to leave the game after suffering some illness on the court, Morton attempted to take control of the game as she nailed a corner three pointer then drove the lane to draw a foul and earn a couple of free throws.
• Superstar Ryan Holder found her confidence late in the second quarter as she continually attacked the rim and was able to get to the line as she made five from the charity stripe in the first half.
• Harford was able to cut the Odessa lead down to 10 points at 43-33, but the Wrangler's 7-0 run opened it back up before Morton hit a buzzer beater at the end of the second quarter to make it a 50-36 Odessa lead at the break.
• Joy Morton took over the game early in the second half with three straight possessions of baskets with a jump shot, an assist to McQueen and a drive for a layup.
• Adrienne Jones finally got on the scoreboard with a nice drive and layup as Harford cut Odessa's lead to 55-44 then Morton made a couple of free throws to make it a single digit deficit for the first time since early in the first quarter.
• But as had been the case all game, Odessa canceled out the Harford momentum with a few big shots to open the lead back up to 70-54 by the end of the third quarter.
• Swearinger continued to be a source of scoring for Harford as swished a three pointer from the wing, scoring eight straight points for the Fighting Owls to keep them in the game as she scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and a game high 25.
• Holder made a phenomenal pass to McCallum for a layup and Jones knocked down a three pointer to make it a 75-72 game with three minutes left.
• Once again it was Holder making a play, this time drawing the foul on a drive and she made both free throws to make it a one point game.
• Odessa responded with a couple layups to get the Wranglers back up by five with 14 seconds left.
• Jones came off an inbound screen to make an immaculate running three pointer and cut the lead back to two points.
• Unfortunately for the Fighting Owl faithful, a timeout was called before the ball could be inbounded by Odessa, but Harford was out of timeouts so a technical foul was assessed which allowed Odessa to make a couple of free throws and put the game out of reach.

 
QUOTES

• Head coach Michael Seney: "We went up against a really good team in Odessa, they were a really hot team coming into the game. The first quarter didn't go as planned, I figured we would start to make shots but it was just a little too late. It is special to get here for a third year in a row, we were proud to do that but we came here to win a national title so it's tough to not be able to do that. I was proud of my sophomores for the way they went out."
• Sophomore guard Tianna Swearinger: "We have all been working really hard to get ready for this game. The coaches really pushed us, Coach Seney is the best coach I have ever had because he believes in me which helps me believe in myself to show confidence in this game."
• Sophomore forward Joy Morton: "When we started communicating better on the defensive side we made it harder for them to score. This is the best team I have ever played for, Coach Seney is the best coach in the nation right now. He sets us up to be successful. This is a special moment to get back to Texas. We had to really work hard to get back here. We dug ourselves into a whole but we proved to everyone that we belonged here."

 
UP NEXT

• Harford will face the unenviable task of replacing an incredible sophomore class as all six sophomores were major contributors throughout the season.
• The Fighting Owls will look back on this year as another great one in the Seney dynasty including a fourth straight conference regular season and tournament championship, a fifth straight regional title, and a third consecutive trip to the national tournament.