HOUSTON – Junior guard
Amanda Johnson, freshman guard
Megan Valdez-Crader and sophomore guard
Shannon Jones combine for 69.2 percent of the Huskies scoring in a 65-62 win in overtime against Sam Houston State Saturday night at Sharp Gym.
"We have talked for weeks about finding a way," Coach Finnie says. "Today we did that. It wasn't pretty, but I thought defensively we were very solid. We have to make much better decisions on offense. We allowed their defense to force us into bad shots, in the fourth quarter and we didn't get to the glass. Our focus this week has to be to get back to finishing at the glass, but I was really pleased with the play of Megan and Shannon, who both did a great job of that today."
Jones led the Huskies (8-16, 4-10 SLC), shooting 50.0 percent from the field with 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. This marks her second consecutive game in double-digits, after shooting for a career-high 19 points against Northwestern State. Johnson shot 33.3 percent from the floor, putting up 15 points, while Valdez-Crader racked up 14 points and handed out four assists. Sophomore guard
Lauren Calver added six points and led the Huskies with 10 boards. Junior center
Natalia Gwarda brought down six rebounds and was one shy of matching her career-high six blocks.
Two players led the scoring for the Bearkats (4-20, 3-11 SLC). Lydia Baxter posted a double-double to lead all scorers, shooting 29.1 percent from the floor and shot 4-of-11 from behind the arc. She scored 17 points, brought down 15 rebounds and had three steals. Jenniffer Oramas put up nine points, while Kiera McKinney and Ashleigh Cooper contributed six points each and combined for 13 boards.
HBU shot 36.2 percent from the floor, 2-of-9 from the 3-point range and 19-of-25 from the free-throw line. SHSU shot 29.6 percent from the floor, 6-of-18 from behind the arc and 8-of-12 from behind the line. The Huskies outrebounded the Bearkats 47-42.
Sophomore guard
Britta Daub opened the scoring with a free-throw for the Huskies' first overtime action this season. HBU went up by three points, after they were awarded defensive points. The lead didn't last long, as Rachel Harrell tied it up with one shot from the 3-point range with 1:33 left to go. Jones immediately answered back with a shot in the paint that sealed the 65-62 win for the Huskies.
The Huskies were down late in the first quarter, 11-9, when Jones and Johnson buckets gave the Huskies a two-point lead. Both teams went silent for the next three minutes, unitl Lydia Baxter hit a layup with 53 seconds to go. A Daub 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the Huskies into the second quarter with the three-point advantage. A jumper by Kirienko from Calver started off a six-point run early in the second, but the Bearkats answered with an 8-0 run to make it a one-point game. A Calver layup and a Johnson three helped the Huskies extend the lead by four, but was soon cut in half, after Jenniffer Oramas scored a jumper, ending the half 27-25.
After a 15-6 run highlighted by two 3-point plays from Jones, the Huskies led by 11 points with 4:07 left to go in the third quarter. Efforts by Valdez-Crader (4 points) and Calver (two points) sent the Huskies to its largest lead of 13 points. Rachel Harrell scored back-to-back buckets, including a 3-pointer to cut the Bearkats disadvantage to only eight points. The Huskies scored the next four out of seven points to lead SHSU 52-53, going into the fourth.
The Huskies only put up seven points in the fourth quarter, four of which came from Johnson. It could not compare to the 16 scored points by the Bearkats, which evened the score at 59 to send the Huskies and the Bearkats into overtime.
