The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

HEAD coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, sophomore forward Shalonda Neely and their Jacksonville University Dolphins saw their season come to an end in the opening round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

The Dolphins were eliminated with a first round loss to the University of Central Florida Knights 65-60 at the CFE Arena in Orlando, Florida, last night.

Neely finished with four points and four rebounds.

The Knights advanced to play the winner of the Alabama-Southern game in the second round, to be hosted March 17-20.

The Dolphins got off to a slow start and scored just eight points in the first quarter. Neely was a key contributor off the bench and scored four points in the second as JU outscored UCF 13-5 in the period. The Dolphins took a 21-16 lead at the half.

UCF had a turnaround in the third quarter and outscored JU 18-14, but the Dolphins sill took a 35-34 lead into the fourth.

Tied at 38 with 6:36 left to play in regulation, the Knights went ahead by five, but the Dolphins trimmed the lead to just one with 1:04 left.

The Knights were up three with eight seconds left when the Dolphins forced overtime when Jasmyn Brown made a three to beat the buzzer. The Knights led by as much as five in overtime.

For the second consecutive season, the Jaguars came up just short in a bid for the NCAA Tournament but earned a berth to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).

The tournament field consists of 32 automatic invitations – one from each conference – and 32 at-large teams. As a runner-up in the league tournament, Florida Gulf Coast received the ASUN’s automatic qualifier.

“Since taking over this programme, our goal has been to win championships,” head coach McPhee-McCuin said on the Dolphins’ athletic website. “We’re obviously disappointed with the outcome of this year’s results but the opportunity to participate in the WNIT is quite an honour. I am encouraged as another postseason berth shows the true trajectory of our programme. We will represent Jacksonville University and the ASUN to the best of our ability.”

The Dolphins set a new single season program record with 24 wins. Last season, the Dolphins tied the previous record of 23 – set back in the 2007-08 season. Both years, JU finished 23-9 overall.

Last season, the Dolphins also lost in the first round of the WNIT to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

McPhee-McCuin led the Dolphins to 23 wins, which tied the school mark for most wins in a season, and they also had the best RPI in the conference.In the 2015-16 campaign, McPhee-McCuin led the Dolphins to a 22-11 record, the A-Sun tournament title and their first NCAA Tournament championship berth in school history.