IRVING, Texas – A lead of less than a second is all it takes to win a college basketball game and that is all the Southwestern University women's basketball team needed to take down the University of Dallas 52-50 when Reece Sandercock converted a fastbreak layup with 0.6 seconds remaining in the contest.
With Dallas having possession after a late timeout, Akyra Hodges got the game-winning play started when she stole the ball and found an open Ellie Ward who pushed the ball up the court as fast as she could with time winding down.
Ward's pass to Sandercock was on the money and gave Sandercock the opportunity to an easy albeit nerve-wracking layup to give Southwestern its only lead of the contest and capping off an 11-0 run to end the game after Dallas went up 50-41 with 2:59 remaining.
Southwestern (6-4, 2-0 SCAC) was one of just three schools along with Trinity and Schreiner to start Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a 209 record.
With the Crusaders (3-5, 1-1 SCAC) up 50-41, Emily Edwards would get the Pirates to within 50-43 with 2:34 to go.
About a minute later, Edwards got a defensive rebound off a missed three pointer by Dallas on one end and then Edwards converted a three-pointer of her own on the offensive end to being the Pirates to 50-46.
Ellie Ward was fouled in the act of shooting with 1:03 to go and calmy stepped up to the charity stripe with ice water in her veins and converted both attempts reducing the Crusaders lead down to 50-48.
Less than 0:30 later, Ward would tie the game at 50-50 on a layup following a timeout by Southwestern head coach Greta Gritti to set up the tying play.
For a moment, Dallas appeared to be poised to regain the lead but missed a layup b3fore grabbing the offensive rebound and the Crusaders calling a timeout to set up what eventually was the play Hodges stole the ball.'
When the game started, it looked as if Dallas was on its way to a lopsided victory as Southwestern was down 11-0 before Hodges scored the team's first points of the game at the 5:04 mark of the first quarter.
Numerous times throughout the contest would see Southwestern fall behind anywhere from 8-11 points, but the Pirates did the little things a team needs to do in order to win especially taking care of the ball and forcing your opponent into committing considerably more than they are used to.
Southwestern turned the ball over 15 times and saw Dallas benefit from just 10 points off turnovers. The Pirates, however, forced the Crusaders into 25 turnover that were turned into 18 points.
Ward led the Pirates with an all-around performance going for 14 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to go along with six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Edwards added 12 points, three rebounds, three steals and an assist while shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-5 from long range.
Sandercock was limited to 16 minutes played due to foul trouble and only scored six points but converted on layup at the end of the game to win it for her team when they needed her the most.
UP NEXT
The Pirates will step up in competition levels when they head to St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, to take on the Hilltoppers, who compete in the NCAA Division II level and in the Lone Star Conference. Tipoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CST on Wed., December 14.
