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Scoreboard

Walla_Kaitlin_20181123WB_UCM_86
Antonio Morano Photography
97
Central Mo. UCM 4-1
101
Winner St. Mary's STMU 6-1
Central Mo. UCM
4-1
97
Final
101
St. Mary's STMU
6-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT 1 OT 2 F
Central Mo. UCM 24 10 13 19 13 18 97
St. Mary's STMU 13 15 16 22 13 22 101

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | RattlerAthletics.com

Walla and Banks lead Women's Hoops to upset over #1 Central Missouri

By Heather Kennedy | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

SAN ANTONIO – Both teams put on a shooting clinic from beyond the arc, but the St. Mary's women's basketball team pulled off the biggest upset in program history, defeating top-ranked Central Missouri 101-97 in double overtime in the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic on Friday evening.

Senior guard Kaitlin Walla (Georgetown, Texas) came within one point of tying the all-time single-game scoring record at St. Mary's with 35 points, while sophomore Soteria Banks (Round Rock, Texas) poured in another 29, making them the most prolific scoring duo in a single game in the school's NCAA history. Walla's 35 points ties Flavia Azinheira from February 25, 2006 against St. Edward's for second-most in school history on the single-game scoring record. Azinheira also holds the single game record with 36 points from November 26, 2005 against Ferris State.

Central Missouri (4-1) jumped out to a big lead, ending the first quarter up 24-13, but the Rattlers (6-1) outscored the Jennies 15-10 in the second quarter to go into the locker room trailing by only six, 34-28. The Blue & Gold edged the Jennies by three in each of the next two quarters, 16-13 in the third and 22-19 in the fourth, for the 76-76 tie at the end of regulation. Both teams posted 13 teams in the first overtime before the Rattlers were able to outlast UCM 22-18 in the final overtime period and win 101-97.

In addition to Walla and Banks, sophomore forward Hannah Wilson (Fredericksburg, Texas) added a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Banks led the team with six assists, while senior guard Arysia Porter (San Antonio) had a game-high four steals despite not playing the fourth quarter or either of the overtime periods. Five different Rattlers each had one blocked shot.

Four Jennies scored in double figures, led by 33 from Morgan Fleming. Paige Redmond scored 25, while Sydney Crockett added 17 and Megan Skaggs chipped in 14. UCM made a total of 17 three-pointers on the evening.

Both Banks and Walla nailed five three-pointers for the Rattlers, while Crockett and Fleming each sank five for the Jennies as the two teams combined to hit 28 triples in the game. 

In the first overtime, UCM opened the scoring with a triple, but Walla and Banks answered with back-to-back three-pointers for the 72-69 advantage with 3:35 remaining. Fleming answered for the Jennies with a jumper in the paint, to cut the lead to one and they took the lead on a pair of free throws at the 1:56 mark. The teams traded layups and Banks gave the one-point lead back to the Rattlers with a pair of free throws with 58 seconds left. Another Fleming layup for UCM with 44 ticks on the clock swung the one-point favor the other way when Martens called a timeout. The Jennies made a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left to stretch the lead to three, 79-76, but Walla was fouled on a three-point basket with 11 seconds left and she made all three attempts to force the final overtime.

In the second overtime, the two teams combined to score almost their identical outputs from the fourth quarter. St. Mary's matched its total with 22 points, while Central Missouri was one point shy with 18. Quite an amazing feat, seeing as they did it in half the time, as an overtime period lasts just 5:00 instead of the 10:00 of a regular quarter.
Walla led all scorers with eight points in the second overtime, while Banks had six points and two assists. Both teams shot amazing from the floor in the second overtime period, as StMU was 6-of-8 from the floor (75 percent) and 3-for-4 from the three-point line and UCM was 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) from the field and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. The Rattlers were also 7-for-10 from the free throw line, including 1-for-2 by freshman Meredith Marcum (Corpus Christi, Texas) with one second remaining to push the game to a two-possession contest and seal the victory.

The Rattlers return to the court on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in the finale of the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic against Kutztown, while the Jennies will square off at 1 p.m. against #10 Lubbock Christian.
 
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