SEATTLE – The last shot of
Ashlynn Burgess' Seattle Pacific career turned out to be one of her biggest shots.
Then, Avery Dykstra came up even bigger for Western Washington.
Burgess buried a 3-point buzzer beater to force overtime on Saturday night, but Dykstra countered with a buzzer beater of her own at the end of the extra period, lifting the Vikings to a 59-57 victory against the Falcons in Brougham Pavilion.
Honored in a Senior Day ceremony prior to tip-off of the season finale, Burgess gave herself and Seattle Pacific (7-7) something to celebrate as time was ticking away in regulation.
Down 47-44 with 4.4 seconds left, SPU came out of a timeout with
Rachel Berg inbounding in frontcourt on the right side. She got it in to
Abril Rexach Roure, who drove along the baseline underneath the hoop. She saw Burgess breaking into the clear behind the 3-point arc on the left side, whipped it to her, and Burgess launched an uncontested shot that was nothing but net as the buzzer sounded and the light behind the backboard came on.
"What a special moment for her that she'll cherish for the rest of her life," head coach
Mike Simonson said. "We truly trust her in every aspect, on the court and off. We said, 'Let's get Ashlynn the last shot.' We trust her to take that shot. It was a really special moment – I'm just sad it wasn't a win for her."
BACK AND FORTH IN OVERTIME
Western Washington (4-0) took the lead at the outset of overtime and kept it until freshman
Hailey Marlow drove for a lay-in off an assist from Rexach Roure and a 53-52 Falcons edge with 2:16 left.
Dykstra buried a 3-pointer at the 1:21 mark, putting WWU up, 55-53.
Natalie Hoff tied it on lay-in at 58.6 seconds, then Marlow drained a pair of free throws to give Seattle Pacific a 57-55 lead with 17.8 left. Dykstra countered with two free throws at 10.3 seconds for a 57-57 tie. A Marlow lay-in attempt was blocked by Western Gracie Castaneda, who secured the rebound with 5.6 seconds to go.
Coming out of a timeout, Dykstra grabbed the ball after it was batted away from Katrina Gimmaka at the top of the key on the left side. She drove around to the right toward and scooped a right-hander off the window and in. The buzzer sounded, but the officials ruled that six-tenths of a second still remained.
That gave the Falcons one last try. Berg got a chance to throw one up from close range in the middle of the lane, but the buzzer went before she could get it off.
Mike Simonson
"What I love about playing Western is that in some ways, we're very similar in that we're both tough, hard-nosed, gritty basketball teams," Simonson said. "That's what we got tonight was a tough, gritty game. Both teams had a strong desire to win the game. … It was just a good defensive game – you get a stop, we'll get a stop, like a Ping-Pong ball going back and forth
"Kudos to two really tough teams."
The Falcons, who dropped a 58-50 decision to the Vikings on Friday in Bellingham, fell into a 20-10 hole late in the first quarter. But by halftime, they had edged in front, 26-25,
Western Washington edged back ahead in the third and took a 39-37 lead into the final 10 minutes. It stayed ahead for essentially 9 minutes and 59 seconds of that until Burgess struck from downtown.
"There's a lot of things we could have done differently and done better, but I'm truly proud of our fight," Simonson said. "I'm proud of our defense giving us a chance to win the game. We really never quit."
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Junior forward
Natalie Hoff led SPU with 10 points. She was the only Falcon in double digits and also led the way with eight rebounds.
-- Senior guard
Abril Rexach Roure handed out seven assists and played 43 of the 45 minutes. She was kept off the scoreboard, though, and finished the year with 998 career points. However, the NCAA is allowing all winter sports athletes to retain this year of eligibility, and Rexach Roure is planning to return for one more season.
--As was the case on Friday, leading scorer
Ashley Alter (13.3 points per game) sat out with an injury.
--SPU's freshmen got some significant playing time on Saturday, and made the most of it.
Hailey Marlow had nine points in 25 minutes, including five in overtime
Malia Mastora had seven points and three rebounds in seven minutes, and
Beth Pettingill chipped in six points, two rebounds, and three steals in 23 minutes. "I can't say enough about what our young kids did in our rivalry game," coach
Mike Simonson said.
-- The Falcons had a season-low nine turnovers, after committing just 14 on Friday. That total of 23 was fewer than the 27 they had in their season-opener against Pacific Lutheran on Jan. 11. "They were a solid defensive team," Simonson said of PLU. "Now we go against Western, who in my mind is one of the best defensive teams on the West Coast, and only nine turnovers against them – that's mind-exploding growth."
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, March 6, 2021
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
Western Washington 59, Seattle Pacific 57 (OT)
WESTERN WASHINGTON (4-0)
Rogers 3-10 0-0 6, A. Dkystra 4-8 2-2 13, Iwami 2-13 2-2 7, Duff 0-6 1-2 1, Olson 2-8 4-4 8, R. Dykstra 1-2 0-0 2, Fierke 1-2 0-0 3, Gimmaka 4-7 0-0 9, Coleman 0-1 0-0 0, Castaneda 4-8 0-0 10, Zaragoza 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-67 9-10 59.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-7)
Boston 2-8 3-5 8, Burgess 3-7 0-0 7, Hoff 4-9 2-3 10, Berg 0-10 4-4 4, Rexach Roure 0-7 0-0 0, Mastora 2-2 2-2 7, Marlow 3-5 3-5 9, Brundidge 3-6 0-0 6, Pettingil 2-6 2-2 6. Totals 19-60 16-21 57.
Western Washington 20 5 14 8 12 -- 59
Seattle Pacific 12 14 11 10 10 -- 57
3-point goals – WWU 8-29 (A. Dysktra 3-5, Iwami 1-7, Duff 0-2, Olson 0-3, R. Dykstra 0-1, Fierke 1-2 Gimmaka 1-2, Coleman 0-1, Castaneda 2-6), SPU 3-12 (Boston 1-2, Burgess 1-2, Hoff 0-1, Berg 0-5., Mastora 1-1, Pettingll 0-1).
Fouled out – WWU: Duff.
Rebounds – WWU 48 (Duff 13), SPU 40 (Hoff 8).
Assists – WWU 10 (Olson 5), SPU 10 (Rexach Roure 7).
Turnovers – WWU 15, SPU 9.
Total fouls – WWU 16, SPU 12.
Technical fouls – None.
Next game
Season complete.