PITTSBURG, KS -- It took an extra five minutes of overtime, but the SBU Lady Bearcats hung on to defeat the Pitt State Gorillas, and took a serious step toward a ticket to the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City.
SBU led by 13 with seven minutes to play, but Pitt State came back to tie it with 4 seconds remaining in regulation on a three-pointer by Marissa Poppe.
But in the overtime, SBU regained their composure they had for most of the game, and outscored the Gorillas 10-7 in the five minutes of extra time.
Erika Souza scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Lady ‘Cats' offensive attack. Most of her points came in the form of quick, uncontested, fast-break layups. Souza also passed very well tonight, picking up three assists. Livia Brito had a good line of 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists of her own.
The Lady ‘Cats were cold from the field to begin the game. At the 8:00 minute mark of the first half, they were only 4 of 20 for 20%. But from that point, until the 15:00 minute mark of the 2nd half – SBU shot a sizzling 60% from the field on 12-20, improving their overall percentage to 40%. SBU build a lead as large as 13 points, before Pitt State stormed back to tie.
SBU ended the game with percentages of 40.0 from the field, 35.0 from the arc, and 76.9 from the line.
After the game, Coach Jim Middleton was very impressed with the way his team handled the pressure of going to overtime.
“We got that opening tip, and as soon as Souza made that layup, it relaxed everyone. She had a great game tonight. She had several layups that really lifted our team at key moments. I was also really happy with the way we rebounded tonight.”
SBU outrebounded the Gorillas 55-42.
Tonight’s win greatly increased SBU’s hope for a post-season game in Kansas City. With only 2 MIAA games remaining, the Lady ‘Cats’ conference record of 6-10 puts them on top of the 5 teams fighting for the final 3 positions.
Final Stats
