Box Score
ODESSA, Texas — Up by six with under 40 seconds remaining in the Heartland Conference Tournament championship game, the University of Texas-Permian Basin had to think the crown was theirs.
But not against this St. Mary's squad.
Felicia Jacobs spurred a dominating return in the final seconds of regulation for the Lady Rattlers, proving to be clutch with their season on the line in a 74-71 overtime victory over the No. 1 seed for their fifth conference title in eight seasons.
At the end of regulation, the Rattlers erased the six-point Falcon lead over the final 36 seconds with four free throws and a Jacobs steal that resulted in a layup to tie it 63-63. The championship game would be extended to overtime — and the Rattlers know overtime.
St. Mary's claimed its long-awaited conference trophy on the Falcons' home floor, upsetting the conference's regular-season champion by granting the Falcons their first home loss on the season behind Jacobs' career-high 26 points.
In an intensity-driven game featuring the league's top two teams, St. Mary's (22-6) may have looked down and out to the Falcons and their crowd as the clock wound down.
But that's where the Rattlers thrive.
“The way we finished the last four or five games where we've had some close finishes, our girls believed we had a chance to win until that buzzer sounded,” said head coach
Jason Martens of his fourth conference championship as St. Mary's head coach. “I told them that this morning; that we are a team of destiny.”
An exuberant celebration — featuring plenty of tears — followed the overtime buzzer after the Rattlers outscored the Falcons (20-7) 11-8. The ongoing cheers and screams signified this realization: the Rattlers will be going dancing in the NCAA Division II tournament, earning the automatic bid to next week's South Central Region Tournament.
The Rattlers' thrilling and hard-fought win over UTPB was spurred by a combined team effort, including the well-seen passion in
Jackie Woods (Jr., San Antonio) and Jacobs (Sr., San Antonio).
Jacobs wowed for a game-high 26 points, including hitting 14 of 17 from the free-throw line. Jacobs was named to the All-Tournament Team after also totaling a team-high five assists.
Woods was just as damaging, scoring 18 points to claim the Tournament MVP honor. The two-time All-Conference First Team guard hit three from behind the arc when the Rattlers needed them the most, and tied for a team-high three steals.
Fighting aggressively down low,
Morgan Pullins (So., Franklin, Mich.) turned a double-double with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
St. Mary's long celebration after the title game will last. However, it will have a quick turnaround as it starts the South Central Regional tournament Friday.
“We're just going to go there with the idea that we are going to try to win it,” said Martens simply of the Rattlers' now guaranteed regional appearance. “We'll get to practice Monday, figure out who we're playing and start putting together a game plan.”
The details have yet to be worked out but one thing is certain: the Rattlers will be one to contend with for the regional title.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.
