HSU Cowgirls making a taking-care-of-business trip to NCAA tourney

A trip from California to San Antonio is nice, but Hardin-Simmons would like to send the out-of-state visitors home rather quickly.

The NCAA announced its 64-6eam Division III women's basketball tournament field Monday and placed Redlands from Redlands, Calif., in a Texas pod with host Trinity, HSU and the University of Texas-Dallas.

HSU (23-3) takes on Redlands (19-7) at 5:30 p.m. Friday, with the Trinity vs. UTD game to follow. The winners play Saturday in hopes of moving on to the sectional round.

Redland is just over 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It's1,300 miles from San Antonio.

The programs have played just once, a non-conference game in 2012 won by Redlands on its court.

Stewing a little bit

This is a business trip, not a weekend getaway for HSU. Not after losing at home in defense of its 2022 American Southwest Conference title.

"That made it sting a little more because we hadn't experienced that in a long time," coach Kendra Whitehead said of 73-71 loss to UD on a buzzer-beater. "But at this point in the season it's do or die for everyone. Don't expect that because (Redlands) won they will take us lightly or be comfortable at all.

"We're all approaching this as survive and advance."

But ...

"I definitely think our kids are angry. I'm hoping we can channel that into toughness on the court," Whitehead said. "We're moving forward. We're going to make sure our best game is Friday."

If HSU can beat Redlands, it would play a team that beat it the last time out. Trinity eliminated HSU in the NCAA tourney last year. And for Whitehead, she remembers Trinity beating her 20 years ago in the tournamennt.

"We'll use all that, definitely," she said.

This is a no-nonsense trip south.

"I don't feel like I have much of a sense of humor right now," Whitehead said. She would love for her team to bounce back against Redlands and get another shot at Trinity or UTD.

Maybe HSU's 20-game win streak was not working totally for the team.

"I think you can get comfortable when all you've had is success," Whitehead said. "We talk about growing and I think our players go hard all of the time and bring the right energy and effort, but there still is value in some adversity."

HSU has faced adversity.

"Now we get to see how that adversity benefits us," she said.

How they got here

The Cowgirls are making their second straight tournament appearance. HSU won the ASC title a year ago, beating UTD in the final. It was Hardin-Simmons that was the opening-round host, but despite a boisterous crowd, the Cowgirls dropped a 61-57 decision to Trinity.

That started a solid tournament run for Trinity, who won twice more before losing in the quarterfinals at Amherst, 79-68.

Only two of the four teams in the San Antonio pod are ranked - Trinity at No. 5 and HSU now No. 12, falling from No. 8 in the D3 poll after losing.

The word "upset" plays a part in this matchup.

HSU took its long winning streak and 18-0 league record into the ASC title game but was upset by the UTD. The Comets got a late turnover with the game tied and hit a shot at the buzzer for the win.

The Cowgirls had beaten UTD soundly twice in ASC play.

"We were a little off synch," Whitehead said.

Out west, almost the same thing happened at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tourney.

LaVerne took a 24-2 record into the SCIAC title game, with two previous wins over Redlands.

In that game, Redlands roared to a 10-point first-quarter lead and was up 44-31 at halftime. But LaVerne came to life in the third quarter with a 21-6 advantage to take the lead. But Redlands regrouped to pull off the 70-69 upset.

It was 67-67 when Alyssa Downs, the team's leading scorer with 16 a game, hit a layup with 38 seconds to play to return the lead to Redlands. A free throw made it 70-67.

LaVerne scored with 6 seconds to play, then forced a turnover but a shot with 3 seconds to go missed.

Downs had 19 points in the win for the Bulldogs. She had 10 of those with a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

LaVerne did not make the tournament field, but HSU did.

Scouting Redlands

Whitehead said what you'd expect a coach to say.

"They're really good, which you could expect at this point in the season," she said.

The Bulldogs went 12-4 in league play, with two losses to LaVerne.

After playing teams twice in conference and facing UTD for a third time, Whitehead said it was nice to size up a new team.

Whitehead said Redlands is led by "dynamic" guards, including Downs, who scored in double figures in all but two games. She topped 20 points five times with a high of 27 vs. Occidental. She scored 19 points three times.

"She has been consistent," Whitehead said.

The HSU coach said her team's strategy would be to deny Downs the ball, limiting her shot opportunities. The set plays are designed to get her the shot.

"They are relying heavily on her," she said.

Overall, the Bulldogs like for their guards to penetrate for an open 15-foot pullup or work to around screens. HSU doesn't play a lot of screen teams. East Texas Baptist is one in the ASC.

"A lot of screening action so there has been a lot to learn about them," Whitehead said.

HSU is the better shooting team - 46% to 41% - but the Cowgirls did not shoot well in their three losses. The Cowgirls shot 35% in their home loss to Trinity, hit just six of 21 three-pointers in the loss at Trinity and netted just 41% of their shots vs. UTD.

Whitehead said it was easier to talk about defense that putting pressure on the offense to score. A coach doesn't want players to dwell on misses.

"It can become a mental thing," she said.

Also, a good offensive team is accustomed to seeing the shots fall. When they don't, "it takes away from some of your effort to got get yourself another chance, or rely on that shot to fall to create energy at the other end. Maybe we were guilty of that in that game," Whitehead said.

Overall, the Cowgirls shoot well enough. And because HSU doesn't have a go-to player, Redlands can't focus on one scorer but have to play all five Cowgirls on the court. Six players average 9 points or more a game, but none more than 12. But any player can have a big night.

"They will have a different look with us because I don't know of anyone they can do that with," she said of her balanced scoring team. "I hope we will be able to break that down."

"We've talked more about guarding them," she said. "Making it more about defensive toughness."

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: HSU Cowgirls making a taking-care-of-business trip to NCAA tourney