San Antonio – DeAnna Patterson scored nine of her 12 points over the final seven minutes of the game as St. Mary’s University held off Northeastern State University for a 60-56 win on the first day of the St. Mary’s Women’s Basketball Classic, held at Bill Greehey Arena on Friday night.

Patterson (So., Converse) made six straight free throws in the final 1:59 to help the Rattlers hold off a late charge by the RiverHawks in the closing minutes. With 8:21 left to play NSU led 38-36. Chastity Noble (Sr., El Paso) hit a runner in the lane as the shot clock expired to tie the game at 38. NSU tied the game on a pair of free throws by Jasmine Wright, but Mareta Bailey (Jr., Grand Prairie, Texas) tied the game with a layup on the next possession. Noble hit a pair of free throws and Patterson followed with a deep three pointer on a kick-out from Kristen Williams (Jr., Kansas City, Mo.) to give the Rattlers a five-point lead with seven minutes left to play.

But the RiverHawks chipped away at the Rattler lead and back-to-back buckets by Cristy Nitz and Sarah Green made it a one-point game with 4:26 left. Again the Rattlers responded and built the lead back to six points with 1:19 to play. From there Patterson hit her free throws, giving the Rattlers the win in their home opener.

Noble led all players with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Williams had 12 points and 6 rebounds, while Patterson had 12 points and four assists. As a team, St. Mary’s shot 52.8 percent from the field (19-36) and 73.9 percent (17-23) from the free throw line. NSU shot 43.8 percent (21-48) from the field and just 13.3 percent from three-point range (2-15).

The Rattlers started the game slow, falling behind 9-0 in the first 2:07. But they rallied behind some strong shooting from the outside. Noble, Liz Boyd (Fr., San Antonio) and Patterson, all made three-pointers to help the Rattlers tie the RiverHawks at 17-17. Williams then gave the Rattlers their first lead of the game on a driving lay-up with 1:08 left in the period. Noble wrapped up the half on a high note, sinking a running floater with one second left to make the score 25-23.

With the win, St. Mary’s remained perfect at 2-0 this season. Northeastern State suffered its first loss of the season and fell to 3-1. In the first game of the day, Southeastern Oklahoma State University ran out to an early double-digit lead and never let up in a 68-49 win over the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. The St. Mary’s Classic will continue on Saturday at 2 p.m. when Northeastern State and UTPB take the court. St. Mary’s and Southeastern Oklahoma State will follow in the final game of the tournament at 4 p.m.

St. Mary’s (Texas) 60, Northeastern State 56
At Bill Greehey Arena, San Antonio, TX
Second game of the St. Mary’s Classic
St. Mary’s will host Southeastern Oklahoma State at 4 p.m. on Sat. for the tournament championship

Back to top