February 3, 2012
San Antonio – Her only 3-pointer for the night was the shot heard ’round the Bill Greehey Arena Thursday, as the Lady Rattlers fell to the University of Texas-Permian Basin at the buzzer.
Heartland Conference is on line each game for the Rattlers (9-14, 4-3 in conference), and Thursday night was no different as they faced the No. 2 seed, the Falcons (15-6, 6-2 in conference), that they barely missed overtaking in a 60-57 defeat that saw UTPB’s Tammy Acosta hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
“It’s a hard upset, but we’re going to have to get over it,” said Felicia Jacobs of the third conference loss, all of which have come from the top three teams in the league.
Jacobs (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) was one of the several Rattlers who caused Thursday’s game to be a close one, going nearly perfect from the floor (4 of 5) with 11 points that included one 3-pointer. Kathryn Galindo (So., San Antonio, Texas) led the Rattlers with a career-high 15 points, slamming 5 of 9 from the paint. DeAnna Patterson (Sr., Converse, Texas) broke away with 12 points and two big 3’s.
St. Mary’s started off shaky in the first – “just not playing (their) style basketball,” as Jacobs says – succumbing to a quick deficit of six by the Falcons.
It was a seesaw second half with the Rattlers gaining a seven-point lead that flopped to a seven-point lead for the Falcons with three minutes remaining, with the Lady Rattlers down 57-50.
St. Mary’s turned on its after-burners, however, with points from all the night’s top scorers: a blocked shot from Galindo, a powerful three-pointer from Jacobs and a pull-up jumper from Patterson to make it an even 57-57 with a minute to play.
But the Falcons earned their rank for a reason. With three seconds remaining, University of Texas-Permian Basin ran a well-practiced clutch play, causing the defense to collapse on a pawn layup to pop it out to the open Tammy Acosta behind the arc for the game-winning 3-pointer.
As the red light of backboard ended the Rattlers’ shot at overtime, it also ended the first round of conference play. St. Mary’s is holding onto the fourth spot in conference, meaning it’s holding onto the chance to fight in the playoffs.
“We did everything we could to try and get a stop,” says Jacobs, “but we can’t blame it on the last call because we had many chances to pull out a win in the beginning.”
St. Mary’s will continue to get its chance to make its way up in conference as it faces rival St. Edward’s this Saturday at the Bill Greehey Arena at 12 p.m.