HONOLULU – After a rough start to the game, the St. Mary's University Women's Basketball team hung with No. 2 Colorado Mesa University but fell 62-53 in the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center in the semifinals of the Outrigger Hotels Hoops in Hawaii Tip-off Classic.
The Mavericks (2-0) scored the first 17 points of the night, but StMU (1-1) got going from deep in the second quarter, hitting three straight 3-pointers for a 9-0 run, but Colorado Mesa still took a 34-24 lead into halftime.
The Rattlers' shooting caught fire after the break. Trailing 38-24, St. Mary's went 5-of-8 from deep in the third quarter, and senior
Allie Garcia (Adelaide, South Australia) drained a long buzzer beater to tie the game at 43-43 at the end of the third quarter.
Freshman
Elizabeth Griffin's (Aledo, Texas) layup gave St. Mary's its first lead of the night to open the final quarter, however the comeback expended a lot of energy and the Mavs were able to find an answer, outscoring StMU 19-to-10 in the fourth to remain unbeaten.
Garcia led the team with 19 points, while junior
Raynne Malik (London, Ontario, Canada) added nine points, a team-high eight rebounds and two blocked shots. All of Malik's points came from beyond the arc as she was 3-for-6 from the three-point line.
A large part of the Mavericks ability to overcome the Rattlers' comeback was in the battle for the boards. Colorado Mesa outrebounded StMU 50-to-26 in the game, including 17-to-4 in the fourth quarter, which led to nine second-chance points in the final 10 minutes.
Mason Rowland scored 13 of her game-high 28 points in the final stanza, and sank 8-of-10 from the free throw line. She ended the night with a double-double, grabbing 13 boards, second to Tamryn Blom who led the game with 15.
Senior
Andrea Montesinos (Valencia, Spain) came off the bench to lead the team with four assists, and Griffin had the team's only steal. Junior
Joana Arumi (Sant Julia De Villatorta, Spain) had a solid outing off the bench, going a perfect 2-for-2 from the field with one triple, two rebounds and two assists in just under 15 minutes of play.
The Rattlers will play Hawaii Pacific for third-place at the preseason tournament. The Sharks lost to Winona State 71-56 in their half of the bracket after defeating Western Colorado 74-63 in the opener. Game time is slated for 9:45 p.m. (CT)/4:45 p.m. (HT).
