Louisiana Tech 94, Fresno State 92 (3OT) | Stats
FRESNO - Brietta Thomas hit a three-pointer with 2.6 seconds to play in the third overtime to lift Louisiana Tech (11-5, 3-0 WAC) to a 94-92 win over Fresno State (11-6, 2-1 WAC) before 3,275 fans at the Save Mart Center Thursday night.
It was the first triple overtime game in Louisiana Tech history and the second straight overtime game for the Lady Techsters, who defeated Hawaii 74-69 last Saturday night.
With Tech trailing 92-91 in the third overtime period, the Lady Techsters called with 18 seconds to play to draw up a play. Following the timeout, Jasmine Bendolph missed on a jumper but Shantale Bramble-Donaldson pulled down the offensive rebound.
After Bramble-Donaldson was stripped of the ball, Kiara Young batted the loose basketball out to Thomas who rose up and drilled the 20-footer from the left wing with 2.6 seconds to play. Fresno State, out of timeouts, inbounded the ball but Taylor Thompson's desperation halfcourt shot was wide left as LA Tech snapped the Bulldogs 20-game regular season Western Athletic Conference winning streak.
"I'm so proud of this team," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon, who saw her team play all three of the overtime periods without All-American candidate Adrienne Johnson who fouled out of the game with 14 seconds to play in regulation.
"We could have easily folded our tents at the end of regulation but every one of our kids showed a lot of heart. This is a big win for us. This is not an easy place to win. Fresno State is a very talented team and is very well coached. I hope we grew up some tonight."
Despite trailing by as many as 13 points on three separate occasions in the second half, Louisiana Tech was on the verge of winning in regulation. Bendolph sank two free throws with 38 seconds remaining to give LA Tech a 74-71 advantage.
However, the Lady Techsters kept giving the Bulldogs extra opportunities. On three separate occasions in the final 25 seconds of regulation, Fresno State missed on a shot and LA Tech pulled down the defensive rebound. However, on each occasion LA Tech had the ball taken away - the final time proving costly.
After a turnover by Tech guard Whitney Jones with 14 seconds to play, Fresno State's Jaleesa Ross misfired on a long three pointer with six seconds to play and the loose basketball was batted out to Thompson who drained a 25-footer with less than a second to play to send the game into overtime.
"We didn't do a very good job down the stretch (of regulation) of taking care of the basketball; of being strong with the basketball," Weatherspoon said. "I hope that we learn from this game how important it is to do all the little things.
"There aren't too many times that you look at a stat sheet where you turn the ball over 35 times and shoot as poorly as we did from the free throw line and still win. We have to improve in all of those areas. However, I'm still so proud of these kids."
In the first overtime, Tech never led but Bendolph hit a jumper with 1:12 to play to tie the game at 80-80. Both teams had opportunities to take the lead in the final 72 seconds but neither was able to as Hayley Munro's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer was nowhere close.
The second overtime saw both teams take two-point advantages. With Fresno State leading 85-84, Bendolph hit a three-pointer with 1:58 to play to give the Lady Techsters an 87-85 advantage. However, Tech turned the ball over three times and Munro's layup with 22 seconds to play tied the game at 87-87.
Tech had a chance to win it but Tarkeisha Wysinger-Mackey, who played a program single-game record 51 minutes, lost the basketball out of bounds under the Lady Techster basket with seconds to play, sending the game into a third overtime period.
In the final overtime, Tech took a 91-88 advantage on a Bendolph layup with 2:03 to play. However, Fresno State fought back to take a 92-91 lead on Marnique Arnold's layup with 45 seconds remaining.
After Young missed a driving layup with 28 seconds to play, Murno went to the free throw line with a chance to build on the Bulldogs advantage. However, she missed both and Tech pulled down the defensive rebound, setting up the dramatic finish and Thomas' game-winning three.
"I am not surprised at all the Bri hit the shot," Weatherspoon said. "I knew the minute it left her hand that it was good. She shot it with confidence. She didn't hesitate. She can really help us and we need her to continue to work hard and play with confidence."
Johnson led Tech with 23 points and nine rebounds while Young added a career-high 17 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Wysinger-Mackey, who left the game in the final 55 seconds of the third overtime due to severe cramps, finished with 14 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and six steals.
Jones and Bendolph each scored 13 points as five Techsters scored in double figures.
Tech shot 44 percent (38-87) from the field, 6-of-16 from the three-point line and 12-of-23 from the free throw line. Fresno State shot 40 percent (30-76) for the game and hit 11-of-30 three-pointers and 21-of-35 free throws.
The Lady Techsters outrebounded Fresno State 62-49, including 25 offensive rebounds.
Idaho 72, Hawaii 48 | Stats
MOSCOW, Idaho - Leading 30-21 to start the second half, the Idaho women's basketball team went on a 14-0 run to end any hope of a Hawai'i comeback and secure the program's 500th all-time victory, topping the Rainbow Wahine 72-48 in the Cowan Spectrum on Thursday night.
Five Vandals scored in double-figures, and Idaho shot 43.9 percent as a team and hit 10 or more 3-pointers for the fourth time this season. The Vandals connected on 25-of-57 shots overall including 10-of-24 from long range, helping overcome a 51-40 discrepancy on the glass.
Senior Bianca Cheever opened up the second half with a 3-pointer, followed by another from junior Keri Arendse. Cheever hit two more 3s and senior Derisa Taleni capped the 14-0 spurt with a layup to make the score 44-21 with just under 16 minutes left.
"When the second half came and we had our meeting with coach he just said we needed more energy," Idaho senior Yinka Olorunnife said. "They didn't seem like they wanted it, and we didn't seem like we wanted it, so I think that's what happened in the second half. We really did want this, so we came out ready to just play."
Cheever hit 4-of-6 3-pointers in the game and finished with 12 points and four rebounds.
"Second half we knew that we had to attack them," Cheever said. "So if I had an open shot I was going to take it."
Arendse led Idaho with 13 points and added three assists and two rebounds. Olorunnife was one rebound shy of her eighth double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds. Taleni had 11 points, five assists and two steals in the game, and freshman Alyssa Charlston had 10 points and eight rebounds, and hit 2-of-3 long range shots.
"We had a little offensive discussion at halftime about what we needed to do," Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. "We were pretty stagnant. (We started) Attacking them, pushing the tempo, we wanted to get some easy buckets, and just some ball movement. I thought we did a pretty good job of that, and Bianca came in and hit those 3s right at the start."
Rachele Kloke scored all eight of her points in the first half, and added four rebounds and two assists for Idaho, which improved to 9-6 on the season and 2-1 in Western Athletic Conference play. Hawai'i falls to 6-10 overall and 0-2 in the WAC.
Idaho's defense, which leads the WAC in opponent field goal percentage, held UH to just 27.5 percent shooting for the game, hitting 19-of-69 shots including just 2-of-17 from 3-point range. The Vandals also forced 19 turnovers.
Hawai'i was led by freshman Kamilah Jackson, who scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end. No other UH player scored more than six points in the game.
The win gives Idaho an all-time record of 500-497.
"That was a fast 500, three years," Newlee joked. "It's nice, we'll always be a part of Vandal history now. The 500th win hit. All of these guys on the team should be real proud of that."
Boise State 83, San Jose State 51 | Stats
BOISE, Idaho - Boise State ran out to a 20-8 lead midway through the first half and never looked back as the Broncos defeated San Jose State 83-51 in a Western Athletic Conference women’s basketball game Thursday night in Taco Bell Arena at Boise. Kati Isham and Melissa Rima combined for seven of 10 shooting from the 3-point arc in the first half as Boise State led by 29-points, 43-14, at halftime. Isham finished the game with a team-high 20 points followed by Rima with 15. Boise State improved to 10-6 on the year and 1-2 in WAC play.
After San Jose State opened the game by scoring the first basket on a 3-pointer by Marnesha Hall 2:18 into the contest for their only lead of the game. Boise State responded by seizing control of the game by recording the next 10 points storming out to a 10-3 lead with 14:17 to go in the period.
By the 11 minute mark the lead was out to 20-7. Boise State continued to dominate the game as the Bronco defense clamped down in the final 10 and half minutes of the half holding the Spartans to six points, to go into the break up 29 points at 43-14.
Kati Isham and Melissa Rima led the Broncos in the opening 20 minutes as they combined for seven 3-pointers, they went seven-of-10 from beyond the arc. Isham recorded a team-high 16 points followed by Rima with 11. Boise State shot 44 percent (15-34) from the floor and 60 percent (9-15) from the 3-point line. About the only thing the Broncos struggled at was free-throw shooting going 40 percent (4-10).
San Jose State was led by Myesha Broaden with four points while the team shot 23 percent (6-26) from the floor, 13 percent (1-8) from the arc and 50 percent (1-2) from the charity stripe.
Boise State out scored San Jose State 22 to two in points off turnovers and 10 to zero in second chance points. The 14 points scored by the Spartans was the fewest points allowed by Boise State in a half this season.
The Broncos were never seriously threatened in the second half though the Spartans picked up their game playing Boise State relatively even, 40-37 BSU.
Down 29, San Jose State opened the second period with purpose scoring the first six points pulling to within 43-20 two minutes in to the half. By the 12 minute mark the Spartans had scored 20 points, four more than they had in the first half. However, They were still down 59-34.
Boise State responded after the initial push by the Spartans by picking up its intensity. The two teams traded mini runs as the scoring margin fluctuated between 23 and 32 points for the rest of the game. During the final 20 minutes both teams pushed their game inside where the Spartans out scored the Broncos 20 to 14 in the paint for the period.
Isham finished the game with a team-high 20 points recording her sixth game with 20-plus points of the year. She went five-of-10 from the 3-point line while adding two rebounds, three assists and two steals to her totals. Melissa Rima was the second of three Broncos in double-digit points with a season-high 15 to go with a team-high nine rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. Lauren Lenhardt recorded her 13th game in double-figure points with 10, in addition to five boards, one block and one steal.
Two Spartans hit double-figure points led by Sara Plavljanin with 13 to go with six rebounds. Sayja Sumler followed with 10 points and four boards, while Brittany Johnson grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds to go with her four points.
The Broncos finished the night shooting 41.9 percent (26-62) from the floor, 42.3 percent (11-26) from the arc and 64.5 percent (20-31) from the free-throw line. The 83 points was the third most points scored this season by Boise State.
San Jose State finished the night shooting 35.2 percent (19-54) from the floor, 23.1 percent (3-13) from the 3-point line and 62.5 percent (1-16) from the free-throw line.
SJSU committed 21 turnovers compared to 14 by Boise State resulting in a huge advantage in points off turnovers for the Broncos by a 33 to 13 margin. Rebounding also went the way of Boise State 44 to 36 giving the Broncos a 20 to 11 edge in second chance points.