Late Free Throws Hurt Women's Basketball

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — After taking the lead on a three-pointer by Jaedyn Dunn, the St. Mary's University Women's Basketball team was outscored 16-5 over the final 4:18 to fall 61-52 to Lone Star Conference foe West Texas A&M on Sunday night.
 
Dunn, a senior from Houston, made her return to the lineup after missing four games and responded by scoring seven points and collecting two steals in 21:35 of action.
 
The Lady Buffs (8-4) made all eight free throw attempts in the final 2:24 to hang on and win the non-conference contest in the Daytona Beach Shootout.
 
Freshman Vani Sancho (Baton Rouge, La.) more than doubled her previous scoring career-high – in the first half. Sancho led all players with 11 in the first 20 minutes and ended the night with 11. Twice before, she had scored five points in a game. 
 
Fellow freshman Taylor Haggan (Parker, Texas) led the Rattlers (2-7) with 15 points, and she grabbed eight rebounds. Senior Natalia Ryng (Gdynia, Poland) led the team with nine boards and senior Teanna Huggins (San Antonio) chipped in 10 points, two assists and two steals.
 
A season ago, the two teams combined for only 82 points in Canyon, while this year the teams combined for more than that after three quarters of play (87 points). 
 
Both teams struggled in the second quarter, finishing the half on 1-for-10 streaks from the field. WT held the slight 28-26 advantage at the break after StMU owned a 15-12 lead after the first quarter.
 
The Lady Buffs scored the first six points of the third quarter to stretch their lead to eight, 34-26. After a quick timeout, the Rattlers responded with five of the next seven points to make it a five-point game, 36-31 with 5:44 on the clock. StMU continued the scoring run after the media timeout, scoring nine of the next 12 points to take the lead for the first time in the quarter, 40-39 on a pair of free throws by Huggins. StMU held the 44-43 lead when time expired in the third stanza.
 
It took just over three minutes for a team to crack the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, as WT hit two free throws in four attempts to regain the lead, 45-44. Dunn hit her huge three-pointer on the ensuing possession for a 47-45 advantage with 6:14 on the clock. The Lady Buffs tied the score for the third time at 47-47 with 4:57 remaining and immediately called a timeout before finishing out the night with the win.
 
Nyalam Thabach led the game with 18 points, while she and Jayla Burgess tied Ryng for game-high honors with nine rebounds. Grace Alvarez notched a game-high eight assists and Burgess chipped in two steals and three blocked shots.
 
The Rattlers wrap up the Daytona Beach Shootout with a contest against 16th-ranked Montana State-Billings at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT. The Yellowjackets lost 59-58 to West Texas A&M on Saturday evening.