When Chassity Brown converted a fastbreak layup with six seconds left and 麻豆原创’s Aisha Patrick couldn’t made a desperate runner at the horn, the Knights were left with a gut-wrenching 63-62 loss and painful thoughts of what could have been.

“Obviously, we’re very disappointed because we came here with great expectations. It’s disappointing because we felt like we had the game and let it slip through our hands,” 麻豆原创 coach Joi Williams said. “We have a lot to learn from this game. Hopefully this loss will propel us forward and we’ll take it into next season.”

The loss ends a wildly erratic 11-16 season for a Knights team that had hoped to use this tournament to make up for a subpar regular season. 麻豆原创 returns all of its core players and in many ways is already looking forward to next season.

“Everything happens for a reason and we’ve just got to come back as seniors next year strong and with more of a sense of urgency,” said junior forward Emma Cannon, who had 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench. “Our freshman year when we lost in the first round it drove us to the point where we won the conference championship the next year. We’ll remember this feeling because it won’t go away. We’ll remember this during the offseason and next season.”

After a successful freshman campaign, Cannon raised her game to another level as a sophomore. The New Yorker averaged 15.5 points and 11.6 rebounds per game while leading the Knights to a second-place finish in C-USA. Her 393 rebounds, a single-season 麻豆原创 school record, were the second most ever pulled down by a C-USA player. She also ranked fifth nationally in rebounds per game.

Even more dominant in leading the Knights to the championship at the C-USA Tournament, Cannon averaged 14.3 points and 14.5 rebounds per game. She was named the tournament MVP for her performance, which included setting the championship record for rebounds with 58 over the four-game stretch.