WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team led for over 41 minutes of the game at Midwestern State on Monday evening, but MSU freshman Dyamon Griggs made a pair of huge shots at the end of regulation and the second overtime to lift the Mustangs to their first conference win, 82-81.
Each team had three players foul out as there were 66 fouls called, with 20 of those coming in the fourth quarter. The teams also combined for 50 turnovers as the Rattlers fall to 5-4 overall land 1-3 in Lone Star Conference play while the Mustangs move to 3-6 and 1-3 in league action.
Sophomore forward
Faith Phillips (San Marcos, Texas) scored a career-best 19 points with a 7-for-8 night at the free throw line. Senior
Tonia Bilic (Zagreb, Croatia) added 16 points and junior
Briley Perkins (Houston) chipped in a season-high 13 points with seven coming at the charity stripe.
Freshman forward
Gabby Elliott (San Antonio) grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and blocked two shots, but fell victim to the whistles, fouling out after 19 minutes. Junior
Teanna Huggins (San Antonio) led the team with four assists and she and junior
Reyelle Frazier (Tacoma, Wash.) each notched four steals.
For the fourth time this season, the Rattlers recorded 50 or more rebounds in a game, but were outrebounded by one, 51-50 on the night.
The 27 free throws for StMU tie for the eighth-most in a single game and are the most in a contest since the team made 27 against Texas A&M International on March 1, 2014. The 40 attempts also tie for the seventh-highest single-game total and are the most since March 9, 2013 when the Rattlers had 40 at UT Permian Basin.
The Rattlers held the Mustangs to just two baskets in the first quarter, but they managed five straight points at the free throw line to keep things close, 15-9 after 10 minutes. Huggins had two steals early, helping the Rattlers build an 8-2 advantage before MSU took three-straight trips to the charity stripe.
The two teams went back-and-forth in the second quarter with the Rattlers maintaining a six-point edge at the break, 29-23. Phillips scored four of the final five points of the quarter for the Rattlers and took a charge down low. Both teams struggled with turnovers in the first half, combining for 29, though the Rattlers took better advantage, scoring 15 off the 15 MSU miscues, while the Mustangs only managed five points off 14 StMU turnovers.
The Rattlers doubled their lead in the third quarter, taking a 45-33 advantage into the final stanza. Phillips scored six, while Bilic added five as the team was 5-for-11 from the floor. StMU went on a 9-3 run to end the third quarter after Coach
Valerie Huizar called a timeout at the 3:08 mark.
After Bilic scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, the Mustangs used a 9-0 run to cut the lead to five, 47-42 with 7:25 remaining. Both teams lived at the free throw line in the final stanza as the two teams were whistled for 20 fouls and 37 free throw attempts. Griggs hit a three-pointer to tie the score with 1.8 seconds left and force overtime. With 0.4 the Mustangs had a lob-layup attempt to win in regulation, but Mandy Withey's shot rolled out.
Phillips scored five of the team's seven points in the overtime, while Shawnis Millar scored five of the Mustangs points as each team scored seven to go to double overtime.
Natalia Ryng (Gdynia, Poland) took over in the second overtime, scoring six points, grabbing four rebounds and taking a charge, but Griggs hit a layup for the Mustangs with 6.2 seconds left for the 82-81 victory.
The Rattlers step out of Lone Star Conference play for the final time, facing UTRGV in an exhibition game in Edinburg on Thursday at 5 p.m. before hosting Schreiner at 1 p.m. on Saturday before breaking for the holiday.
