ABILENE, Texas – The McMurry University made a torrid fourth-quarter rally to force overtime versus Sul Ross State University, but came up short in the overtime segment in a 67-64 loss at Kimbrell Arena. The loss dropped the War Hawks to 5-10 overall and 1-6 in the American Southwest Conference, while the Lobos improved to 7-9 and 4-3 in ASC play.
After the first quarter, things looked bright for McM as it rolled out to a 16-12 lead. However, the second and third stanzas belonged to SRSU. The Lobos led 32-25 at halftime and 48-33 through three stanzas.
But staring up at the 15-point deficit did not intimidate the War Hawks, who began to methodically whittle away at the margin. With 2:38 left in regulation, things still looked bleak for McMurry, trailing by 14 points, 59-45. But from that point to the end of the fourth quarter, the War Hawks out-scored SRSU 15-1.
The icing on the cake came from freshman
Kaymee Howell as the final seconds ticked away. Down 60-57 with seven seconds to play, McM came out of a timeout and worked the ball to Howell who uncorked a long-range shot from the left of the basket. Howell's shot swished through with two-tenths of a second left to force the overtime.
In the extra period, the teams were tied at 64-64 with 1:59 left after a
Haley Welch layup. But the Lobos' scored the final three points for the 67-64 final score. In the final 12 seconds, McMurry had three missed shots, including a potential game-tying three-point miss by junior
Sham Hunter.
Hunter was the only War Hawk player in double-digit scoring with 17 points. Hunter was 6-21 from the floor and 5-of-8 from the free-throw line. She also had four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Skyler Reyna added nine points and five rebounds. Howell finished with eight points and Ayme Templeton six, both off the McM bench.
Isabel Carrion, Welch,
London Weilert and
Sarah Doherty each booked five points, while Rhiana Jones and
Britney Beaver had two points each.
Weilert had a team-leading seven rebounds and Welch also grabbed five caroms.
