Box score, play-by-play
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- They traded the lead 20 times. Found themselves tied 19 times. Played 50 minutes of basketball within a span of 10 points.
But at the final buzzer, two points was just enough to separate the 14th-ranked UC San Diego women from 20th-ranked Seattle Pacific.
Melissa Reich had a career-high double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Daesha Henderson pumped in 14 points and handed out seven assists on Monday, but SPU fell short on the opening night of the Triton Holiday Classic in UC San Diego's RIMAC Arena, 82-80.
“We outscored them from the field, we out-rebounded them (47-45), and we hit 16 of 20 from the free throw line. We did some really good things,” Falcons coach Julie van Beek said. “But it's hard to overcome 32 turnovers and 44 (opponent's) free throws.”
The Falcons (7-2) had leads in the final 30 seconds of both regulation (which ended at 60-60) and the first overtime (70-70). After yielding the first four points of the second extra session, SPU went up 79-78 on a lay-in by junior center Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) with 56 seconds remaining.
The undefeated Tritons (7-0) tied the game at 79-79 on a free throw by Tiffany Hunter with 43 seconds left, then took an 81-79 lead on a lay-in by Chelsea Carlisle at the 30-second mark.
A free throw by Reich brought the Falcons to 81-80 with 20 seconds left. But with SPU forced to foul as time ticked away, Annette Ilg hit the second of two free throws with five seconds left to give UCSD an 82-80 edge.
Seattle Pacific never got off a final shot.
“We did a lot of things really well and played a very good team to double overtime,” van Beek said. “Our kids made some good decisions and made some free throws and some good shots (29 of 62 for 42 percent). Had we won, it would feel a lot better, but we'd still have the same things we need to work on."
The Tritons, who hit three fewer field goals (26 of 65), drained 27 of their 44 free throws. The Falcons were whistled 30 times, with senior forward Megan Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) picking up her fifth at the 1:29 mark of regulation, and Reich collecting her fifth with five seconds left in the second OT.
“What hurt us is they penetrated a lot,” van Beek said. “They kept driving on us, and eventually, we fouled. For any team to shoot 44 free throws, that's a lot.”
The Tritons scored 20 points off of SPU turnovers. The Falcons forced 22 UCSD turnovers, converting them into 14 points.
Neither team ever led by more than five. Seattle Pacific had an early 15-10 edge. UC San Diego moved ahead 30-25 late in the first half before the teams settled for a 32-32 halftime tie. The Tritons then had a 51-46 advantage with 7:51 left in the game before the Falcons went on a 12-4 run to take a 58-55 lead.
It was 60-57 for SPU on a lay-in by Reich with 2:33 left in regulation. But the Falcons went scoreless after that while the Tritons hit three free throws, the last of them by Carlisle with 10 seconds remaining, to force the first extra five minutes.
After five lead changes in that initial OT, Seattle Pacific went up 70-68 on a Reich lay-in with 23 seconds left. But Tiffany Hunter knotted it at 70-70 on a lay-in with eight seconds left, bringing on the second overtime.
Falcons junior guard Maddie Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS) handed out a career-high eight assists to go along with eight points. Hoisington had 11 rebounds of SPU's 47 rebounds and scored seven points before fouling out with. Reich, the second-best shooter in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (she came into the game at .556), hit 6 of 9 from the floor.
Ilg finished with 24 points for UC San Diego, which had never beaten SPU in eight previous attempts. The Tritons and Falcons came into Monday's contest nearly equal for the season in average points (71.5-71.0 for UCSD), points allowed (53.8-54.2 for SPU) and rebounds (43.5-42.9 for UCSD).
“It was two very evenly-matched teams,” van Beek said. “If we played them in a couple weeks, it might be a little bit different.”
Seattle Pacific gets a rematch against Grand Canyon in the final tourney game today at 5 p.m. The Antelopes scored a 69-55 victory when the teams met in the GNAC-Pac West Classic on Dec. 4 in Nampa, Idaho.
“The nice thing is we're playing a team (in Grand Canyon) that's very similar to UC San Diego,” van Beek said. “Last time, we didn't rebound very well (the Antelopes had a 44-37 advantage) or shoot very well (29.3 percent). I think we're a lot better than we were on Dec. 4.”
NCAA Women's Basketball
Monday, December 28, 2009
RIMAC Arena/La Jolla, Calif.
(No. 14) UC San Diego 82, (No. 20) Seattle Pacific 80 (2 OT)
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-2)
Hoisington 3-8 1-1 7, Reich 6-9 3-5 15, Harazin 5-8 3-4 13, Henderson 4-13 4-4 14, Maloney 3-11 0-0 8, Gorman 3-6 1-1 8, Thralls 1-1 0-0 3, Sims 0-2 0-0 0, Murray 0-2 0-0 0, Benson 1-3 2-2 4, Rohrbach 3-6 2-3 8. Totals 29-69 16-20 80.
UC SAN DIEGO (7-0)
Noonan 2-3 0-1 4, Hunter 3-6 5-8 11, Freidenberg 5-10 0-0 10, Carlisle 4-19 5-9 15, Ilg 7-11 9-11 24, Howard 0-0 0-0 0, Osga 0-1 2-2 2, Feder 1-6 1-4 3, Martin 3-7 5-7 11, Cabral 1-2 0-22, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Grady 0-0 0-0 0.Totals 26-65 27-44 82.
Seattle Pacific 32 28 10 10 -- 80
UC San Diego 32 28 10 12 -- 82
3-point goals -- SPU 6-25 (Harazin 0-2, Henderson 2-6 Maloney 2-8, Gorman 1-3, Thralls 1-1, Sims 0-2, Murray 0-2, Benson 0-1), UCSD 3-12 (Carlisle 2-6, Ilg 1-1, Osga 0-1, Feder 0-4). Fouled out -- SPU: Hoisington, Reich. UCSD: None. Rebounds -- SPU 47 (Hoisington 11, Reich 11), UCSD 45 (Carlisle 8). Assists -- SPU 27 (Maloney 8, Hoisington 6), UCSD 14 (Ilg 4). Total fouls -- SPU 30, UCSD 21. Technical fouls - None. A -- 196.
