By Dannielle Lowe
As the seconds ticked away, the Pilots pushed ahead to defeat a solid St. Mary's women's basketball team on Saturday.
"We let them get back in the game," Kendra Morris, a sophomore guard said. "But I was just happy we pulled it off and came back to get the win."
The game started off slow with a mix of turnovers and sloppy play as both teams tried to settle into a rhythm. Well into the first period, the Pilots finally found their groove and began to pull away.
At the end of the first half the Pilots led by five. Coming into the second, the Pilots surged to a 15-point lead, but St. Mary's wouldn't go down without a fight. During the final 10 minutes, St. Mary's rallied together and went on a 22-5 scoring run, and the Pilots fell behind.
With less than four minutes left, the women fought to regain their lead. Sophomore guard Laiken Dollente sunk a three-pointer, making it 75-74 Pilots. St. Mary's responded with a soft layup and gained a foul call.
Just like that, St. Mary's led by three and the last-minute showdown began.
Sophomore forward Laura Thomas responded with a timely bucket to put the Pilots within one. With 36 seconds left, defense became crucial, and the Pilots stepped up. Karlie Burris, a junior guard, stole the ball and began to break away.
A whistle blared and a foul was called on the play. Burris hit one foul shot to tie the game.
With ten seconds left and the score 78 all, the Pilots fed the ball deep into the key to Thomas, who twirled around to hit the shot and put the Pilots ahead by two. With seconds left, St. Mary's drove to the hoop, but missed a necessary lay-up. The failed attempt would be enough to get the win.
The players grew nervous during the intense comeback by St. Mary's, but remained confident.
"I just kept thinking, I can't believe we keep putting ourselves in these one-point and two-point games," Morris said. "It was giving me a heart attack."
The Pilots lost 61-58 in a nail biter against Santa Clara on Jan. 31 and barely beat San Diego by one in overtime on Jan. 19.
Overall the Pilots played well. They finished with 53 rebounds and hit 42 percent of their shots. Allyson Sievers, a junior forward, led the team in rebounds with nine and Thomas with seven. The Pilots also turned over the ball 33 times, another season high. But the women converted 19 turnovers into 20 points.
Before the drama-filled final minutes, Burris essentially owned the game. She hit shot after shot, valiantly leading her team. She finished the game with a career high of 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Her defensive contributions weren't shabby either. She blocked three shots and had a crucial last-minute steal.
While her teammate, freshman forward Lauren Angel, finished with a career high 12 points and Morris finished the game with 16 points, Dollente contributed 11 points and shot 100 percent from the free-throw line, hitting all eight shots.
Dollente is ranked second in the nation in free-throw percentage with an average of .913 and has hit 43 of her last 44 free throws.
The win also marked a record for the WCC and Head Coach Jim Sollars. Sollars, who is in his 22nd season with Portland, collected his 298th win and now leads the WCC's all-time league coaching record.
Halfway through the season, the Pilots are currently the fifth-placed team in the conference with a 3-4 record. They are 13-9 for the season.
