It was an exciting Tuesday night in the Horst Athletic Center as the Women's Basketball team defeated the visiting Seahawks of St. Mary's (Md.) 73-63 in overtime. The Chargers improve to 6-14 overall and 4-5 in the conference while the Seahawks move to 12-8 overall and 5-3 in the conference.
How It Happened:
The Chargers were first to strike when Jenna Dombach found Alaysha Iwais for three. The Seahawks responded with a jumper before Dombach sunk an and-one layup and converted on the extra point. A pair of layups were traded before the scoring went silent for the next three minutes. The Chargers scored the next five to bring the score to 13-4 with a minute and a half remaining in the opening quarter. Shelby Gard added a 3-pointer to end the quarter 16-6.
Rayna Miller was first to strike after the break, sinking a three for St. Mary's 10 seconds into play. The Seahawks added the next four points before Natalie Wenger found the net for the Chargers. Iwais found Dombach for the layup, bringing the score to 20-13 and moving her into third all-time in assists. She then scored her second three-pointer of the night to extend the Charger lead. Isabella Eufemia sank a three of her own and Dombach added a pair of driving layups to give the Chargers the 30-19 advantage at halftime.
It was again the Seahawks to strike first after the break when Samantha Blaylock sank a three at the 8:30 mark. Jenna Dombach added a three of her own later in the quarter to bring the score to 35-24. The Seahawks continued to put on the pressure, but a layup from Rachel Nolt and a pair of free throws from Eufemia kept the Chargers ahead 39-32 at the end of three quarters.
The fourth quarter was the highest scoring for both teams with the Chargers scoring 24 and the Seahawks 31. In the last minute of regulation, the Seahawks scored 14 points, with Olivia Liszt scoring 18 of her team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter for St. Mary's (Md.). The pressure she put on the Chargers helped bring the score to 62-61 with nine seconds left. Alaysha Iwais made a free throw with nine seconds remaining to bring the score to 63-61. A driving layup by Melanie Aguilar with two seconds on the clock tied the score for the first time of the night at 63 to force overtime.
After leading the entirety of regulation, the Chargers were not done fighting as they took the court for overtime. Raven Hunter scored on back-to-back layups before Iwais added one of her own. Iwais then secured two pairs of free throws, bringing the score to 73-63 with 1:32 remaining. That score would hold as the Chargers kept the Seahawks scoreless for the entirety of overtime.
By The Numbers:
- The Chargers led on second-chance points (21-10) and points off turnovers (17-10)
- The Chargers shot 23-66 (34.8%) while the Seahawks shot 23-72 (31.9%)
- Alaysha Iwais led the Chargers with a career-high 26 points
- Jenna Dombach added 15 points and six rebounds
- Raven Hunter and Natalie Wenger both grabbed nine rebounds, with Wenger tying her career-high
- The Seahawks were led by Olivia Liszt and Rayna Miller, each reaching 20 points on the game
From The Coach: Head Coach Ryan Carpenter shared some thoughts after the game. "We showed some big-time resilience heading into overtime. When we had a miscommunication and let a walk-in uncontested layup to force overtime, we easily could have started pointing fingers and arguing, but the ladies did a phenomenal job of being able to move on to the next play immediately. That decision led to us holding St. Mary's (Md.) scoreless in the overtime period and winning by 10. Great win and I couldn't be more proud of this group of young women!!"
Information To Know:
Alaysha Iwais is now 3rd all-time in assists with 352. She also surpassed the 800-point mark in her career, finishing the night with a career-high 26 points to bring her total to 805. Raven Hunter moved into a tie for fourth all-time in blocks with 45, adding to her single-season record.
Up Next: The Chargers travel to Williamsport, Pa. on Saturday, February 3 to take on the Penn College Wildcats at 3:00 p.m.
