Benet slips past Edwardsville, returns to state
BLOOMINGTON - Benet senior guard Kathleen Doyle doesn't ride emotional roller coasters on the basketball court.
So when she left a couple shots short in the fourth quarter during Monday night's Class 4A Bloomington supersectional, all the confidence in the world remained in the Nebraska-bound star's head.
Doyle steadfastly got to the basket for the game-winner with 9.8 seconds left to will the Redwings to a 53-51 heart-stopping victory over third-ranked Edwardsville at Illinois Wesleyan University's Shirk Center. The win sends Benet back to Redbird Arena in Normal for the state semifinals this weekend and a chance to defend their state crown.
"It just shows what kind of a team that we have," said Doyle, who missed a chance to put the Redwings ahead 10 seconds earlier on a slash to the basket that she left short. "I miss a layup, but we never lose confidence in our ability to come back and do it again."
The sixth-ranked Redwings (30-3) will face Trinity (28-5) in the 8:15 p.m. Friday state semifinal on the campus on Illinois State. Edwardsville, which had its season come to close at the hands of Benet last year, finished this season at 30-2.
The 5-foot-9 Doyle finished with a game-high 25 points and 8 assists. Her miss from the lane with 19.1 seconds left was salvaged by senior forward Elise Stout, who forced one of the game's slew of jump ball whistles under the basket with Edwardville's Criste'on Waters to retain possession.
Benet coach Joe Kilbride gathered his team with one of his two remaining timeouts.
"It was a brilliance-in-coaching moment for me," Kilbride said. "I told them to get the ball to Kathleen and let her win the game for us. I feel like we have the best player in the state on the floor and she carried us late."
Benet defended the Tigers' final possession until 0.8 seconds were left in regulation when Stout sent Edwardsville's Jasmine Bishop to the foul line. Bishop had only entered the game after point guard Aaliyah Box fouled out four minutes earlier. Bishop had not attempted a shot until she was sent to the foul line with the game in the balance.
She misfired on the first free-throw attempt, causing Kilbride to burn his final timeout to reset the situation.
"We wanted to make sure everyone understood that she was going to miss the second one on purpose and to get Kathleen on the low block for the rebound because of her athleticism," Kibride said.
Fittingly, Doyle hauled down the game's final rebound, her fifth, capping a game in which the Redwings trailed by as many as eight points late in the first quarter.
"We just never let the ups and downs of the game get to us," said Doyle, who played the final 6:20 with four fouls.
The game was a far cry was last season's matchup when Benet bolted out to an 18-2 lead and rolled to a 61-50 win on the same floor.
Benet forced Edwardsville into 20 turnovers and kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. The Redwings tied it at 45-45 with 4:45 left in regulation on an inside bucket by junior center Katie Jaseckas.
"We have practiced so hard for this moment," said Jaseckas, who had 8 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. "The girls who don't start have pushed the starters so much to get us ready for games like this. Such an amazing team and feeling to be going back to state again."
Edwardsville was paced by Waters' 19 points and 10 rebounds.
"That's a very good team that we beat," Kilbride said. "We went just a little deeper than they did, and it felt like the pace was in our favor at times, especially with our press. The best part of our team is that we find a way to emotionally flat-line through the most stressful moments of the game."