Austin rides Weatherby's 32 points: Stover adds 24 as Black Bears punch ticket to regionals.

Weatherby blistered Minor for 32 points, 21 of which came in the second half, and Stover added 24 as Austin overcame a five-point halftime deficit to take the win away from home.

"Late in the season, we haven't been great at winning these close games," Austin head coach Bruce Hamilton said. "Tamara took over and did a great job."

Austin (20-12) reaches the Northwest Regionals in Hanceville for the first time since 2001 when the Lady Black Bears lost to Decatur 62-53 in the finals.
The Lady Black Bears will face region rival Bob Jones, a 75-35 winner of John Carroll, on Tuesday at noon.
Weatherby and Austin took advantage of having watched videotape of Minor in the days before the game, Hamilton said. In that tape, Minor (23-6) showed a 1-3-1 defense that propelled the Lady Tigers to a postseason homecourt advantage.

However, that same defense played into the hands of Austin, Weatherby said.
"The 1-3-1 is really one of our strengths to play against," Weatherby said. "We have such great penetrators that can get to the baseline where it's open."
In fact, she put on a clinic as to how to beat the defense.

With Austin down 37-34 fewer than two minutes into the second half, Weatherby turned on her competitive drive.
She drove for a layup to cut the score to 37-36 before Minor's Candance Beverly hit one of two foul shots.
On the ensuing possession, Weatherby again hit a layup after driving the baseline. Kyla Jones missed a shot for Minor, and Weatherby again hit a layup, this time giving Austin a 39-38 lead.

Minor, though, came right back, building to a 44-42 lead. Again Weatherby came through, this time hitting another layup and adding a free throw to give the Lady Black Bears a 45-44 lead.
Still, Austin couldn't advance the lead, eventually falling behind again, this time 54-51 when Minor's Jones sank a 3-pointer to begin the final quarter.

But when Minor faltered because of fatigue in the fourth quarter, Austin only got stronger because of a schedule full of tournaments and tough games.
"You can contribute our strength of schedule," Hamilton said.
The frenetic pace of the final eight minutes played into the strengths of the Lady Black Bears, whose half-court offense ate up a tired Minor.

"I kind of thought the pace of the game would be in our favor," Minor head coach Kevin Tubbs said. "You've got to give them the credit for scoring and getting fouled."
Minor's lack of energy played a huge part in the Lady Tigers going scoreless for more than three minutes late in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Weatherby and Stover iced the game from the free-throw line.
Both combined to go 7-for-12 from the foul line in the last two and a half minutes as Minor continued to launch long field goal after long field goal.

"From the start, we didn't want this to be our last game," Weatherby said. "We sold out and laid it on the line and gave it our all."