He just didn’t know it would be all-world.

Literally.

The Blue Bears got a little bit of Poland, a little bit of Senegal and a little bit of Lithuania. It added up to a whole lot of trouble for the CIAAtournament champions in a 77-62 loss to Kennesaw State (Ga).

The Owls may have trouble understanding English, but Colby Tilley’s players have no trouble understanding the game of fundamental basketball. On the offensive end, it is pass, pass, pass — layup. On defense, it’s pressure, pressure, pressure — steal for a layup.

The sparse crowd at Ross E. Templeton Arena saw Kennesaw State shoot 30-for-66 from the field and force 34 turnovers.

Despite the defeat, which ended the Blue Bears’ season at 18-11, they were upbeat afterward. They overcame suspensions and, at one time, a 7-7 record. They also won the school its first women’s championship of any kind.

“I don’t feel bad at all,” said Adrienne Webster, who had every right to be downcast after the senior ended her career. “I’ve been here since the years when we won two and four games. The school has never been this far.”

Coming into Thursday’s game at Presbyterian College, Kennesaw State’s 24-4 record obviously did not frighten the Blue Bears, who shot out to a quick 16-8 lead over the favorites from the Peach Belt Athletic Conference.

The score was tied at 6-all when Erica Deas, the heroine of the CIAATournament, sank two long 3-pointers from the corner. She then fed 6-foot-5 junior center Julie Tarrance for a layup and scored off a feed from Angela Thomas. Tilley was forced to call an early timeout.

“Ithought it was going to be one of those nights,” sighed the Pittsboro native, who began his coaching career at Chatham Central. “After 30 games, you can tell things about your players. I felt that if we slowed down and got them out of their tempo, we’d have a chance. They’re so athletic.”

That’s exactly what happened.It’s also when the foreign legion began marching toward victory.

First, Livingstone had to contend with 29-year-old Rima Brazenas, from Lithuania. She leads the nation in steals and proved why with some harassing defense on Deas and Thomas. She finished with six thefts.

Then there was the Owls’ leading scorer, Amie Kane of Dakal, Senegal, who began challenging Tarrance with some slick moves.

And don’t forget 6-0 freshman center Anna Szaniecka of Poznan, Poland, who scored eight points late in the half.

By halftime, the game had completely turned around.

First, Brezenas and Kane joined Amy Anglin (hey, an American!) to score 10 straight points and take an 18-16 lead.

Tarrance scored four straight, but Livingstone’s 20-18 lead would be its last. A 20-8 run over the last five minutes had Kennesaw State up 38-28 at halftime.

Brezenas was spectacular, getting five steals (“That’s one of her fortes,” said Tilley. “She’s so good at setting them up and getting steals”) and five assists (she led all of Division II in that stat last season). Kane had 16 points on a variety of moves.

But Mitchell knew the story of the half — turnovers and foul trouble. His Bears committed a whopping 22 in the first 20 minutes.

“Twenty-two turnovers — that was the difference,” he said. “We were outrebounding them (21-15) and the field goals weren’t that far off (15-10). We just turned it over way too many times.”

To make matters worse, Tarrance picked up her fourth foul four minutes into the last half. It was still a game then, with the Blue Bears trailing 43-34. Her absence sealed the team’s fate.

“Our outside shots weren’t falling,” noted Mitchell, “and without Julie, we didn’t have any inside scoring.”

By the time Tarrance returned seven minutes later, the Blue Bears trailed 59-40.

“We saw from the stats that (Tarrance) averaged four fouls per game,” Tilley said, “so we challenged her and it worked. Even with the fouls, she’s a presence inside. We didn’t see anybody that tall in our conference.”

As soon as Tarrance came back, the Blue Bears began clicking. She blocked two shots, forced three turnovers, scored four straight points and Livingstone eventually cut it to 11, 67-56 on a 12-footer by Webster with 3:50 left.

“We weren’t going to give up,” Webster said. “We still had confidence.”

Unfortunately for the Bears, Kennesaw still had Brazenas and Kane. Brazenas finished with 10 points, eight assists and six steals.

“All the film we saw and all the scouting reports we had, she was the story,” Mitchell said. “She’s a vet. She understands the game and makes them go.”

Deas didn’t have one of her better games (2-of-9 in the second half and 12 turnovers overall) but her confidence remained high.

“If we stay focused, we can repeat,” she said. “We can do the same thing.”

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NOTES: Six of Kennesaw’s 10 players are foreigners. “Foreign players love to come to America,” Tilley explained. “They have a good experience. We don’t have to recruit. We tell them we need a player and when they go home in the summer, they find one.” ... In 27 minutes, Tarrance had Bear-highs with 18 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.

LIVINGSTONE (62) — Tarrance 18, Deas 17, Edwards 11, Webster 8, Wright 4, Thomas 2, Jackson 2.

KENNESAWSTATE(77) — Kane 28, Szaniecka 11, Brazenas 10, Ndoye 9, Anglin 8, Hernandez 6, Dajksler 3, Kemp 2.

Livingstone 28 34 — 62