ST. GEORGE, Utah - The Dixie State women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaker when Chico State's Hannah Womack sank a 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left to beat the Red Storm 70-68 on Friday night.

"It was a tough loss, but I am happy with the effort and intensity we gave," head coach Jenny Thigpin said. "The girls stayed together as a team and had a well-balanced effort. We learned a lot tonight."

Up 62-60 with 1:42 to go, Haileigh Emerine (Spanish Fork, UT/Spanish Fork) sunk one freebie to make it a three-point game. After two makes on the other end from the free throw line, an easy layup for Emerine made it 65-62. After a missed try for a 3-point play, Kaylah Miller (San Diego, CA/La Jolla Country Day) hustled for the rebound heading out of bounds and forced it off Chico State to retain possession at 1:19 to go.

Chico State didn't give up though and with 8.7 seconds left down one intercepted a long inbound pass and drained a triple from the corner to take a 70-68 lead with 1.6 seconds remaining. 

Dixie State (0-2) shot 51.0 percent for the game and Emerine had 13 point and nine rebounds. Miller added 12 points and Taylor Maynes (Salome, AZ/Salome) had eight points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals. Chico State (2-0) shot just 41.9 percent from the field and made just 6 of 19 threes, but made one when it needed it most to beat the Red Storm.

Dixie State fell behind early but battled back to tie it at 15-15 with 10 minutes to go in the first half after a Miller 3-pointer. 

Chico State led by as many as seven but the Red Storm defense turned steals into points and Maynes' layup at the 2:23 mark tied it up again at 29-29.

A few traded buckets later, Dixie State and the Wildcats went into halftime locked up at 33-33. Maynes had four points, a block, two rebounds and two steals. Miller led with seven points and Tademy chipped in six to go with her three assists.

Out of the break the Red Storm retook the lead and a steal and fast break by Maynes gave DSU a 42-38 edge with 14:41 to go.

The run continued to a 10-0 stretch after Brianna Jessop (Hyrum, UT/Mountain Crest)'s 3-point play to extend teh lead to 45-38 inside of 14 minutes.

The Wildcats took advantage of a cold stretch by the Red Storm and came back and took a 58-56 lead. Haileigh Emerine (Spanish Fork, UT/Spanish Fork) got a layup to go with four minutes remaining to tie it again at 56-56.

The battle continued down to the wire and set up the nailbiting finish with Chico State sneaking away with the win.

Dixie State will host Cal State San Marcos at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Before the Red Storm play, Alaska Fairbanks and Chico State will play at 12 noon in the Burns Arena to conclude the Thanksgiving Classic.