Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Northern Colorado
Wildcats win triple overtime thriller
2/5/2016 5:06:00 AM | Women's Basketball
OGDEN – Weber State women's basketball picked up an 82-79 win in triple overtime thriller against the University of Northern Colorado. This was the first time in school history the Wildcats competed in a triple overtime game. Deeshyra Thomas led the Wildcats with 33 points.
"The girls stepped up once again for us," head coach Bethann Ord said. "We had some crucial baskets at the end and made those clutch plays that kept us in the game. We never gave up. I'm really proud of them."
Weber State struggled taking care of the ball the first half and trailed 23-14 going into half time.
"You can't start a game the way we started tonight, we had 10 turnovers in the first quarter and I had to remind them to slow down and step it up," Ord said.
In the fourth quarter Weber State was down by 13 points with eight minutes to go and went on a 12-2 run bringing the score within two points with 3:02 left in the game. WSU's defense pushed the Bears to a two minute scoring drought. Brittney Dunbar stole the ball with 1:34 on the clock and went back to score and easy layup to give the Wildcats the lead for the first time in the game with a 55-54 score.
UNC's Savannah Scott made a shot with one second left in the game to tie it at 56-56 sending the game into its first overtime.
Weber State was down by two with 15 seconds to go when Brittney Dunbar made a pair of free throws tying the game and sending it into a second overtime.
Double overtime started with a pair of made free throws by Thomas but the Bears answered with a layup by Rebecca Howell. Northern Colorado pushed in the final minutes of the game to take a 71-67 lead over the Wildcats with 18 seconds left. A lobbed inbound pass from Dunbar to Thomas for a made shot under the basket brought the score within two points for a 69-71 score.
Thomas had an easy lane to the basket after the Bears missed two free throws to tie the game back at 71-71 with nine seconds left the clock ticked down and sent the game into triple overtime for the first time in school history.
Weber State had a four point lead going into the final seconds of play. Some clutch free throws by the Wildcats helped them maintain the lead and the game ended with an 82-79 Wildcat victory.
Weber State was led by Thomas who had 33 points scoring 30 in the last half of the game. Dunbar also put up a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Dunbar also had five steals and eight assists. Kailie Quinn also scored in double figures with 12 points.
The Wildcats shot 39 percent from the field and 35 percent from the three and 61 percent from the free throw line. The Bears shot 44 percent from the field, 23 percent from the three and 75 percent from the free throw line.
Northern Colorado out rebounded the Wildcats 49-38 and had 30 turnovers to WSU's 20. Weber State only had five turnovers in the last half and overtimes of the game.
The Wildcats are now 7-2 in Big Sky Conference play and 15-5 overall on the season. Weber State will next host North Dakota at the Dee Events Center at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6.
