HUNT'S JUMPER WITH THREE SECONDS REMAINING GIVES WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 87-85 VICTORY OVER PACIFIC
12/12/2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sophomore Charday Hunt’s jumper with three seconds remaining, her only field goal of the game propelled the Sacramento State Hornets to a 87-85 victory over the Pacific Tigers on Tue., Dec. 11 at the Hornets Nest.
With the win, the Hornets improve to 2-7 on the season, while the Tigers fall to 3-6 on the season.
The Hornets started fast, which has been their trademark this season, going on a 12-3 run to open the contest. Pacific clawed back to trail by three at 17-14 with 12:14 remaining before Sacramento State caught fire. Over the next 5:28, the Hornets went on an 11-1 run to build a 13 point lead with 6:46 remaining in the half, leading 28-15.
The final 6:46 of the half saw both teams begin clicking offensive, with both teams putting up 21 points to close things out, giving Sacramento State a 49-36 halftime advantage.
At the half, the Hornets were shooting 57.7 percent from the field (15-of-26), 66.7 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-9), and 81.3 percent from the foul line (13-of-16). Three Hornets hit double figures in the half, with freshman Sami Field-Polisso (Walnut Creek, Calif.) scoring one shy of her career-high with 13 points in the half, with junior Atty Boyer (Sacramento, Calif.) and freshman Emily Christensen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) chipping in 10 apiece.
Pacific rallied to begin the half, outscoring the Hornets 19-10 over the first 5:23 of the second session to pull to within four. They would pull to within four three more times before finally pulling to within two on a layup by sophomore Emma Head with 8:27 remaining, making the score 68-66.
The Hornets, who were held without a field goal from the 10:28 mark of the half until the 2:44 mark, a span of 7:44, but kept themselves alive from the foul line, hitting 9-of-11 from the line. Sophomore Erika Edwards (Redmond, Wash.) chipped in 8-of-9 from the charity stripe during the stretch, keeping the lead in the Hornets favor at 76-74.
The field goal string was finally broken with 2:44 left in the half on Field-Polisso’s fourth made three, giving the Hornets a five point advantage.
With 1:03 remaining and the Tigers trailing by six, junior Janae Young hit the first of back-to-back three-pointers from the Tigers, that were sandwiched by a Hornet shotclock violation. Junior Renee Roberts connected on a three-pointer following a timeout to tie the score at 85-85, the first tie since the game was 2-2.
That set the stage for Hunt’s theatrics, following a time-out, junior Kelly Hughes (Vancouver, Wash.) penetrated from the right wing all the way to the basket, drawing in the defense, before unleashing an underhand bullet to Hunt. Hunt stepped into an 18 footer and it hit nothing but net for her lone field goal of the game, giving the Hornets the lead at 87-85.
The game was not over, however, as following a timeout, freshman Jennifer Fath put up a miracle shot for the Tigers that banked in, but the officials ruled she had shot the ball after time had expired.
Boyer led all scorers with a career-high 26 points, while Field-Polisso contributed a career-high 16. Edwards finished the contest with 13 points and a team-high six rebounds, while Christensen finished with 12 points, marking four Hornets in double figures.
Pacific was paced by a career-high 23 points off the bench for Fath, with sophomore Emma Head posting a career-high 21 points also off of the Tiger bench. 62 of Pacific’s 85 points came from the bench.
The Hornets finished the game shooting 52.0 percent from the field (26-of-50), and 45.0 percent from behind the arc (9-20). Sacramento State, who had hit free throws at a 66.1 percent clip on the season knocked down 81.3 percent of their attempts on the night, going 26-of-32.
Pacific shot 50.0 percent from the field (32-of-64), 26.3 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-19) and 57.1 percent from the charity stripe (16-of-28). The teams were whistled for a combined 49 fouls.
The Tigers owned a 35-31 advantage on the boards, pulling down 16 offensive boards but converting them into just eight points. Pacific outshot the Hornets in the paint 44-20, while Sacramento State converted 15 points off of 18 Pacific turnovers, while the Tigers were able to convert just 10 points off of 21 Hornet turnovers.
Sacramento State is next in action on Sat., Dec. 15 at Boise State. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Pacific time from Taco Bell Arena.
