SAN ANTONIO — After trailing the majority of the second half, the St. Mary's University Women's Basketball team took a 52-51 lead with 1:10 remaining on a fastbreak layup by
Christin Callens, capitalizing on a
Brooke Kleinig steal.
Sixty-seven seconds later, the hopes of the Rattlers were dashed as Shippensburg guard Taja Colbert made a floating jump shot in the lane, and Kleinig's (Adelaide, Australia) shot left her hands a fraction of a second too late at the buzzer for the 57-55 loss.
Both teams made 20 field goals and 15 free throws on the night; however, the Raiders (2-4) managed two three-pointers, while the Rattlers (3-3) were 0-for-14 from beyond the arc.
Callens, a freshman forward from Houston, led the game with 20 points, while junior
Imani Ivery (Houston) came off the bench to score 14, making all four shots from the field and 8-of-12 from the free throw line. Ivery also tied for the team lead with three assists and six rebounds, recorded two steals and blocked two shots.
Junior
Sian Phipps (Houston) also came off the bench to tie Ivery for team-high honors with six boards in only eight minutes of action. She also swatted a pair of shots and was 2-for-3 from the field.
Freshman
Raynne Malik (London, Ontario) blocked three shots for the third straight game as the Rattlers stopped a season-best eight shots.
Alexis Buie led the Raiders with 13 points, while Abbie Miller grabbed a game-high seven rebounds, and Bella Chimienti led the game with four assists.
The teams went back-and-forth in the first half, with five of the nine lead changes and six of the nine ties coming in the first 20 minutes. St. Mary's once again scored more than half of its points from the paint, scoring 36 of the 55 points down low. Shippensburg edged StMU in the rebound column, 35-to-34, while the Rattlers outshot the Raiders, .392 (20-51) to .364 (20-55).
Shippensburg will face Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday at 2 p.m., while the Rattlers square off against Oklahoma Baptist, which won a closely fought contest, 48-47, in the first game of the StMU Thanksgiving Classic.
