Just as she did against Seattle University earlier in the season, Dara Zack of Saint Martin’s hit a jumper with three seconds remaining in regulation to give Saint Martin’s a 53-52 victory over SeattleU Saturday night in a key GNAC and West Region women’s basketball contest at the SMU Pavilion.
After Zack hit a layup with 8:46 remaining to give the Saints a 43-37 lead, SeattleU went on a 15-4 run over the next seven and a half minutes to go on top, 52-47, with 1:17 left on the clock. Kassie Ludeman hit a layup to cut the lead to three, and then Jamey Gelhar hit a layup with 23 seconds left to bring the home team within one.
After Jackie Thomas (, ) missed the front end of a one-and-one, Zack grabbed the rebound and called timeout, allowing ’s to set up the winning play. Thomas launched a desperation shot from halfcourt as time ran out, but it hit the back of the rim and bounced back over the front rim to the floor.
Kamrica Ary-Turner () led all players with a season-high 16 points, plus she pulled down a team-high six rebounds. Thomas and Laina Sobczak ( Place, ) each scored ten points, with Thomas also earning two steals to become the all-time steals leader, male or female, with 231 career steals. Taryn Kellogg () contributed seven points and five rebounds.
Ludeman and Zack each notched double-doubles for ’s (17-8, 10-6 GNAC), with Ludeman finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Zack earning 12 points and 10 rebounds. Sade Smith contributed ten points, five rebounds, two assists, and three steals, and Amber Harmon added six points, six rebounds, and two assists to the winning effort.
Neither team shot the ball well from the field, as hit 35.7 percent of its field goal attempts and ’s shot 35 percent from the field. The Saints pulled down 19 offensive rebounds on their way to dominating the boards, 50-27, but ’s committed 20 turnovers while SeattleU turned the ball over 14 times.
Seattle University (15-10, 6-10 GNAC) finishes the regular season at home next weekend, first facing nationally ranked Alaska Anchorage Thursday, March 6, starting at 7 p.m. at the Connolly Center. The Redhawks will then end the regular season next Saturday, March 8, beginning at 5 p.m. against Alaska Fairbanks, with Senior Night ceremonies taking place beforehand.