SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons were just 25 seconds away from a narrow victory.
 
But 23 seconds later, those hopes were dashed by a dagger..
 
Ashlyn Yow drained a 3-pointer from the left corner with 2.2 seconds remaining, then SPU saw two under-the-rim tries at a game-winner go astray, and the Roadrunners escaped with a 57-56 women's basketball victory on Friday afternoon in the SPU Thanksgiving Tournament.
 
Hunter Beirne and Layne Kearns had 14 points apiece for SPU (1-7) as they combined to shoot 12 of 21 (57.1 percent from the floor in Brougham Pavilion.
 
In a game that had 16 lead changes (five in the fourth quarter) and seven ties (three in the fourth quarter), Seattle Pacific went up 56-54 on a 3-pointer from the left of the key by sophomore guard Kearns with 25.1 seconds to go.
 
That turned off the shot clock, but still left plenty of time on the game clock for Metro State (1-4).
 
The Roadrunners called timeout and advanced the ball to frontcourt. Point guard Mikyala Espinosa handled it for most of those 25 seconds. It eventually went into Stella Rollo in the lane while Yow was breaking into the left corner wide open. Rollo found her, and Yow's shot swished through.
 
 

"I knew they were going to hit with a lot of screens, and they like to roll off the screens," SPU coach Karen Byers said. "They didn't beat us by hitting the rollers, which they're really good at. We were able to overcome that. But we struggled locating their shooters again, which you could see at the end of the game when we left the shooter in the corner."
 
SPU called timeout to set up a play. Kearns broke through the lane from the right side and caught the inbounds pass from Grace Leasure. Kearns' five-footer from the left of the hoop hit the front of the rim, and fell right into Schuyler Berry's hands. She had a putback attempt, but it went over the rim as the buzzer sounded.
 
The entire game was played within a span of 11 points – and that was entirely during the second quarter. The Falcons built a 17-11 lead by keeping Metro State off the scoreboard for a span of 5 minutes, 11 seconds spanning the final 54 seconds of the first quarter and the first 4:17 of the second.
 
But once the Roadrunners got going, they rang up 11 straight points, with nine of those coming from downtown, to take a 22-17 lead. They eventually took a 26-23 edge into halftime.
 
The third quarter had five more lead changes and two more ties, but it was the Falcons in front by a 44-41 margin heading into the final 10 minutes
 
"We had a very sloppy first half and we talked about it at halftime, and the team responded well," Byers said. "This team is really good about saying, 'Hey, we're not going to crumble; we're going to respond and fight back.'
 
"You could see that in the second half. We looked better, we played better, and we played more cohesively," she added.
 
An 8-2 fourth-quarter surge took Metro State from 49-46 down to 54-51 up with just 1:26 remaining. A floating jumper by Beirne cut it to 54-53 with 52 seconds to go. Madison Rubino then picked off the ball in backcouft. She moved it ahead and passed over to Leasure, who then found Kearns for the 3-pointer that gave the lead back to the Falcons, 56-54, at the 25.1 second mark.
 
Including the game-winner, Metro State hit 9 of 27 from behind the arc. SPU took just 12 long ones and hit three.
 
"We wanted to put up more than twice as many 3s as we shot," Byers said. "Our shooters just weren't coming off our screens looking to shoot. We passed up some open shots."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Seattle Pacific had four more overall field goals, 23-19, and hit 41.1 percent for the day (23 of 56). Metro State hit 35.7 percent (19 of 54).
--The Falcons had  41-32 advantage on the boards. In addition to Schuyler Berry's seven, Layne Kearns collected six..
-- Kearns and Hunter Beirne were each credited with two blocked shots.
-- For the second straight game, Seattle Pacific got double-digit points from its reserves, as they contributed 18. Senior wing Lolo Weatherspoon led the way with six.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will take on Colorado Christian on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. The Cougars fell to Saint Martin's in Friday's first game, 72-53. The Saints and Metro State will square off at 1;00 p.m.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
SPU Thanksgiving Tournament
Friday, Nov. 29, 2024
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Metro State 57, Seattle Pacific 56
 
METRO STATE (1-4)
Sealy 1-4 1-4 3, Rollo 3-3 0-2 6, Espinosa 5-16 0-0 12, Millard 2-64-6 10, Yow 3-8 2-2 10, Pippett 0-2 0-0 0, Roffle 3-6 0-0 7, Siva Pereira 1-3 3-4 6, Jones 1-4 0-0 3, Byrnes 0-2 0-0 0.  Totals 19-64 10-18 57.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (1-7)
Rubino 3-6 1-2 7, Berry 1-6 1-2 34, Ohta 0-3 0-0 0, Beirne 7-12 0-0 14, Kearns 5-9 2-2 15, Leasure 2-6 2-3 6, Weatherspoon 2-7 0-0 5, Bishop 2-5 1-3 5, Turley 1-1 0-0 2, Lavigne 0-1 0-0 0.  Totals 23-56 7-12 56.
 
Metro State          11            15           15           16           -- 57
Seattle Pacific     13           10           18           14           -- 56
 
3-point goals – Metro 9-27 (Espinosa 2-10, Millard 2-4, Yow 2-5, Rottle 1-2, Silva Pereira 1-2, Jones 1-4), SPU 7-12 (Ohta 0-3, Beirne 0-3, Kearns 2-3, Leasure 0-1, Weatherspoon 1-2).  Fouled out – None.  Rebounds –Metro 32 (3 players with 4), SPU 41 (Berry 7).  Assists – Metro 13 (Yow 4), SPU 8 (Ohta 2, Beirne 2, Kearns 2).  Turnovers (points allowed) – Metro 14 (15), SPU 19 (10).  Total fouls – Metro 18, SPU 21.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 261.
 
 
Next game
Colorado Christian at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, 3:15 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.