The Dixie State women's basketball team rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit at Division I Big Sky Conference member Northern Arizona Saturday, but a game-tying buzzer beater rimmed out, sealing a 68-66 win for the Lumberjacks.
Trailing by two with 44 seconds remaining, the Storm (1-7, 1-1 PacWest) got the stop they needed to set up an opportunity to win or send the game to overtime. Head coach
Jenny Thigpin called for timeout to draw up a play with seven seconds left. NAU fouled on the initial throw in, forcing DSU to call a different play. Senior guard
Leslie Tademy (Phoenix, Ariz./South Mountain) took the ensuing inbounds pass, drove to the right baseline, and a fired a jumper that rimmed out as time expired.
Dixie State scored first to take its only lead of the game at 2-0 with 8:07 remaining in the first quarter, but Northern Arizona responded with a 16-4 run, keeping DSU off the board for the next seven minutes. Senior center
Taylor Mann (Castle Dale, Utah/Emery) nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to break the scoreless stretch, and the first quarter ended with an 18-7 advantage for NAU.
DSU doubled its point total in the second quarter, but the Lumberjacks picked up where they left off in the first quarter, pouring in 21 points in the period to take a 39-22 lead into the halftime break.
And then the comeback was on. Senior guard
Chermayne Moore (Pinole, Calif./Hercules) and sophomore guard
Gabrielle Cabanero (Las Vegas, Nev./Valley) combined for three treys to spark a 14-3 run in the third quarter and the Storm cut the lead to single digits at 53-45 heading into the decisive period.
NAU pushed the lead back to 12 points to start the fourth quarter, but Moore refused to let the Storm go down easy, nailing two more 3-pointers and a pair of free throws to keep DSU within striking distance. The Lumberjacks would push the lead to double digits one final time at 68-58 with 2:58 to play and seemed destined to put the game away. This time, it was Mann's turn to take over, recording the Storm's next four baskets for a personal 8-0 run to set up Tademy's game-tying attempt that rimmed out as time expired.
"We've been asking for the team to give effort and not give up all season," Thigpin said. "We talked about playing together at halftime. We only had three assists at halftime and finished with nine, so that was a major adjustment that helped us. The game was a momentum builder for us. We know we can compete with anybody at this point."
Dixie State shot 31 percent (23-of-73) from the field, 28 percent (8-of-28) from beyond the arc, and 80 percent (12-of-15) from the free throw line. Mann recorded her third consecutive double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds, sharing the game-high point total with Moore, who finished with 16 points and four 3-pointers. Tademy added 12 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, while sophomore center
Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman) chipped in eight points and nine rebounds.
The Storm wrap up their stretch of nine out of 10 games on the road and return home for their Pacific West Conference home opener on Saturday against Azusa Pacific at 1 p.m. Mountain Time inside the Burns Arena.Â
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