Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Northern Arizona
Wildcats Drop Heartbreaker to NAU
2/28/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Ogden, UT -- A buzzer-beating jumper by NAU junior Sade Cunningham gave Northern Arizona a 70-68 overtime win over Weber State Thursday night at the Dee Events Center in a key Big Sky Conference showdown. Not only did the Wildcats lose the game, they may have lost their top player, Sara Tuomi, to a season and career ending injury.
With the game tied at 68-68 with 32 seconds left in overtime NAU held for the last shot. Cunningham drove in a missed a layup but was able to get her own rebound and make a five-foot jump shot with no time remaining to give the Lumberjacks with overtime victory. The win moves NAU to 6-8 in Big Sky play and keeps their Big Sky tournament hopes alive.
Weber State led the game 30-23 at halftime but the Lumberjacks started the second half on a 10-2 run right at the same time the ?Cats lost Tuomi to the injury. She suffered the injury at the 14:45 mark of the second half after contact with an NAU player with NAU leading by one point. The senior, who finished the night with seven points and five rebounds, suffered what is believed to be a torn meniscus in her right knee and will likely be out for the rest of the season, thus ending her career at Weber State. Tuomi has played and started 116 career games at Weber State and ranks ninth in career scoring and tenth in career rebounding.
The rest of the half was back-and-forth with no team leading by more than five points the rest of the way. NAU led by five with 5:11 to play when WSU freshman Caitlin Anderson scored seven straight Wildcat points over a 7-2 run to cut the lead to one. Janelle Matthews knocked down a three-pointer wi th 1:21 to play, giving the ?Jacks at four-point lead at 59-55. But from there, senior Ahkiah Hunter would score the last four points of the game to push the game into overtime. It marked the first time in WSU history that the ?Cats have played back-to-back overtime games at home.
In the extra period the Wildcats jumped out to a three-point lead with 1:57 to play led by Tonya Schnibbe who scored five points in the first three minutes of the extra period. Jenna Galloway knocked down a huge three-pointer with 1:38 to play to tie the game again at 66. From there Tiffany Amos made a jumper to give the ?Jacks a lead with 53 seconds to go but Ahkiah Hunter got to the free throw line and tied the game back at 68 with 32 seconds, which set up the final play for Cunningham and the Lumberjacks, who won in Ogden for the second-straight season.
Schnibbe was the only Wildcat to finish in double figures, as she led WSU with 12 points and tied her career-high with ten assists for her first double-double. She also pulled down seven rebounds and was 6-6 from the free throw line. Anderson, Hunter, and Janie Rayback each finished with nine points for the Wildcats.
NAU was led by Laura Dinkins who finished with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Senior Ashley Ingle finished with 15 points and seven blocked shots before fouling out early in the overtime.
The Lumberjacks won the battle of the boards, finishing with 47 compared to 43 for Weber State, including 19 offensive rebounds. Weber State committed 18 turnovers on the night and shot 39 percent from the field.
With the loss the Wildcats drop to 11-15 overall and 5-9 in Big Sky Conference action with two conference games remaining. WSU now must win its remaining two games to have a shot at the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
The final home game of the season will be this Saturday when the Wildcats host Sacramento State. That game will begin at 12:00 p.m. and will be Senior Day for WSU's three seniors, Sara Tuomi, Tashina Taylor, and Ahkiah Hunter.
