Box Score
CANYON, Texas — A booming and vibrant home crowd of over 1,000 West Texas A&M fans that were capable of sending thunderous chants and cheers throughout the First United Bank Center of West Texas A&M often sat quietly Saturday.
St. Mary's Women's Basketball frequently silenced the 1,000 plus home fans in the semifinal round of the South Central Region Tournament Saturday as it nearly collapsed No. 1-seeded West Texas A&M, falling shy of an upset 79-66.
"What a basketball game," said a proud head coach
Jason Martens after the game. "It was two really good teams. West Texas A&M is unbelievable and I'm proud of my girls. We fought hard and we took a couple of punches and responded-we got off the mat a number of times.
"I can't give my girls any more credit than I can for how hard they played tonight."
The riveting game was just the second time in program history that the Rattlers advanced to the semifinal round of the South Central Regional Tournament. Now a notable squad in the program, the 2013-14 Rattlers put a scare in the No. 5-ranked team in the nation.
The Rattlers were high-energy throughout the game, shooting out of the tip-off to gain a seven-point lead over the Lady Buffs with under two minutes left in the half to head into the break stunting the No. 1 tournament team by three, 33-30.
St. Mary's spurt was fueled by
Jackie Woods (Sr., San Antonio) who was held scoreless the first 15 minutes of the half, only to ignite and score 11 points in the final minutes to give the Rattlers the edge.
Foul trouble that emerged in the first half continued to daunt the Rattlers in the final frame as two of their bigs
Morgan Pullins (Jr., Franklin, Mich.) and
Bria Bell (Sr., Mesquite, Texas) both fouled out of the game by the eight-minute mark.
The Lady Buffs charged on a 17-5 run in the second, capitalizing on the Rattlers' fouls to shoot a game-changing 28-31 from the line while the Rattlers made a dismal 10 trips to the line for the game, making four.
The story of the Rattlers' final game of the season was hustle, as they trumped the Lady Buffs in several categories including points off turnovers (35-21), second chance points (13-4), fast break points (6-0) and points in the paint (44-22).
A big three stood out in the semifinal game as Woods and
Dezirae Elias (So., Chandler, Ariz.) both slammed for 20 points and Pullins added 16 before reaching the dreaded five-foul count.
Woods ended her final game as a Rattler with a tremendous showing of 20 points, four assists, three steals and six rebounds as one of the program's most prolific players.
The three-year Rattler ended an unforgettable career Saturday as Woods has cemented herself in the record books and has had numerous accolades including becoming the ninth player in the program to be named an All-American, earned last season.
Woods was the Rattlers' go-to for the past three seasons, earning an All-Conference First Team selection each year, budding in her final season to average a career-high 17.1 points per game and end with a career total of 1,281 points.
"It's made me build as a person and as a basketball player," said Woods of her three-year career as a Rattler. "I'm going to take a lot from this."
Woods has made a lasting impact on St. Mary's Women's Basketball and will be revered for seasons to come.
The Rattlers ended their incredible run 20-10 on the season to mark Martens' fifth season with 20 or more wins in eight seasons as head coach.
In its postseason run, St. Mary's advanced the furthest out of the three Heartland Conference teams that entered the South Central Regional as the conference's highest seed represented at No. 5, as well as pulled the only upset of the tournament as the defeated the No. 4 seed in the opening round, pending the outcome of the championship game.
