This March’s top buzzer reached the quarterfinals of the WAC Women’s Basketball Tournament and it helped Southern Utah avoid a very disappointing end to the season.
The 21-9 Thunderbirds entered the conference tournament as the second seed but with the best record in the conference (in short, they were excluded from seeding because of computers). They opened the tournament with a quarter-final matchup against seventh-seeded New Mexico State and quickly found themselves in trouble.
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At halftime, Southern Utah was trailing 30-14. It was 5 for 25 from the field with six assists and he outplayed 22-15. Throughout the third quarter, he cleared that deficit 16-2, but still needed a hero in the final seconds of the game, trailing 61-59 with 3.4 seconds left.
Senior guard Cherita Dougherty complied, but not in the way she had planned.
The Thunderbirds’ pass to Daugherty was hit back into a crowd of three NMSU defensemen, but Daugherty stuck with the ball and managed to unbalance a one-handed shot that unlikely resulted in a win.
Call:
“He’s down, still dangling, Dougherty heaving… Oh-oh-oh-oh! THIS IS GOOD! Southern Utah wins!”
Another angle:
Dougherty finished the game with 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting with two rebounds, two assists and a block. Southern Utah senior international Tomekiya Whitman led all scorers with 18 points and six rebounds, while Dailany Ballen had 14 points and six assists.
Southern Utah will face the winner of the Grand Canyon and Seattle in the semifinals.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
