Box Score SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
Alexandra Ciabattoni drove the lane and hit a short jump shot with 7 seconds left to push the Newman women's basketball to a 55-53 victory over conference-leading St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 9). With their second straight victory, the Lady Jets moved to 8-13 and 3-5 in the Heartland Conference.
The Rattlers tied the game at 53-53 when Morgan Pullins hit a jumper with 28 seconds remaining. Newman called timeout with 18 seconds left to set up for the last shot. Ciabattoni drove down the lane and hit the game-winning jump shot with 7 seconds on the clock. St. Mary's had a chance, but Jackie Woods missed a 3-point heave at the buzzer.
The score was tied 51-51 with 2:36 after a Woods layup. NU regained the advantage, 53-51 with 1:20 left on a layup from
Bobbi Coleman.
At the halftime break, the Rattlers led 28-27, but Newman only trailed for the first 9 seconds of the second half as
Sumayyah Muhammad gave NU a 29-28 lead on a jumper. The Lady Jets never trailed again for the rest of the contest.
Newman also held the lead for the first 10 minutes of the game. Coleman started the game scoring with a 3-pointer at the 18:22 mark. The score was tied at 12-12 on a Mariah Lee layup at the 10:53 mark, and the Lady Jets trailed for the first time, 15-12, at 10:03 after a Dezirae Elias triple. St. Mary's held the lead into halftime by a slim 28-27 margin.
Ciabattoni scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-4 from behind the three-point line. She also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and added four assists in 34 minutes.
Naomi Rosales hit double figures with 10 points, eight of which came in the first half.
The Lady Jets shot 45.1 percent (23-51) from the field, but was only 3-of-8 (37.5 percent) from the free throw line. NU's defense held St. Mary's to 34.5 percent (20-58) from the field, including 3-of-13 from behind the arc.
The Lady Jets return home for three straight games. NU welcomes Oklahoma Panhandle State to Fugate Gymnasium on Thursday (Feb. 14) at 5:30 p.m.
