“This was a really physical game and we knew it was going to be like this; this is why we had a tougher time when we played them the first time,” said head coach Joan Bonvicini. “Obviously we started the game really well, we were up 14-0, and then finally they scored and the game started getting physical. I thought we lost poise a little bit and it gave them confidence to get some leads in the second half. We had to gut it out and thank goodness we got on the free throw line a lot tonight.”
Seattle U jumped out to a huge lead, their largest of the game, as they opened the contest on a 14-0 run over the first eight minutes of the first half. Brenda Adhiambo (Mombasa, Kenya) drove in the first two layups followed by a Kacie Sowell (Ventura, Calif.) layup a minute later for the first six points.
Daidra Brown (Seattle, Wash.) added a layup of her own at 13:58 sandwiched between three-pointers by Maggie McCarthy (Burlingame, Calif.) and Sylvia Shephard (Alta Loma, Calif.) to put the Redhawks up 14-0.
UTSA first got on the board first on a layup by Ashley Spaletta at 11:48 then followed with an 8-2 run over the next four minutes as Redhawk shooting went cold. Three different Roadrunners contributed during the run, including a back-to-back layup and three-pointer by Niaga Mitchell-Cole at the end of the run.
Neither team scoring for the next two minutes, both teams traded free throws over the following minute to bring the Redhawk lead to six, 18-12, at 4:47.
The Roadrunners cut the lead to two, 20-18, at 3:11 following three pointers by Spaletta and Whitney York but Seattle U extended the lead back to five, 23-18, at the minute mark, which remained the score at the half.
Miki Turner opened up the second half with a three-pointer to again cut the SU lead to two, 23-21, but the Redhawks extended their lead back out to as many as seven, 30-23, at 16:32 following a layup by Brown.
SU would hold on to a five point lead two more times over the next two minutes, but a three-pointer by Spaletta cut the lead back to two. Spaletta followed with a layup at 14:05 to tie the game, 32-32, for the first time.
UTSA would take their first lead of the game, 34-32, at 12:32, following a layup by Whitney Wright and would extend it to as many as four, their largest lead of the game, two times over the next three minutes.
Three straight made free-throw shots for the Redhawks brought them back within one, but they did not regain the lead until 5:39 as Adhiambo drove in a layup as SU led by 3, 42-39. They extended their lead to as many as six, 47-41, with 3:59 remaining, but a 6-0 run by UTSA tied the game at 47 with just under three minutes to go.
McCarthy hit a three-pointer at 1:36 as the Redhawks led, 50-47, and a pair of free throws by Brown extended the lead to five, 52-47. However, Turner made a three-point play with a layup and, as she was fouled, the additional free-throw.
Adhiambo and McCarthy added free-throws to increase the Redhawk lead to four, 54-50, but back-to-back layups by Cori Cooper tied the game at 54 with 11 seconds remaining.
A time out was called by Seattle U with three seconds remaining to draw up the final play and Ashley Ward (Irvine, Calif.) drove in the game-winning layup as the buzzer sounded.
Shephard led all players with 14 points, adding five rebounds. Adhiambo also scored in double figures (10 pts.) and Sowell grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Overall, the Redhawks led in field-goal percentage, shooting 42.1 percent (16-for-38) to UTSA’s 33.9 percent (20-for-59), as well as from behind the three-point line (66.7 percent to 33.3 percent). They also outrebounded the Roadrunners, 38-32.
Mitchell-Cole led UTSA with 13 points and 10 rebounds, with Spaletta and Turner scoring 11 points apiece.
Seattle U will play their final regular season game at home next Saturday, Mar. 9 at 4 p.m. as they host Idaho (14-14, 11-6 WAC). They will also honor this year’s seniors – McCarthy, Brown, and Adhiambo – in their final home game in Redhawk uniform.