Chloee Hunt (20) and the Geoducks celebrate the victory.
Hunt's Buzzer Beater Lifts Geoducks to Win
Chloee Hunt hit a six-foot jumper at the buzzer as The Evergreen State College rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final five minutes to defeat Pacific Lutheran, 67-66, in a non-conference women's basketball game played Wednesday night at Costantino Recreation Center.
The Geoducks (1-4) picked up their first win of the season when Hunt, who made her mark for the Evergreen volleyball team during the fall, took an inbounds pass from Zaria Jones and hit the open jumper from the left side.
The Lutes (0-3) had rallied from an 11-point deficit just after the halftime break by outscoring the hosts, 23-11 in the third quarter. They went on top, 60-51, on a pair of Lacey Nicholson free throws with 5:08 to play before the Geoducks rallied in the closing minutes.
Evergreen eventually regained the lead at 63-62 on a layup by Gabi Fenumiai, but Pacific Lutheran went back on top on a layup by Anna Hurd and a free throw by Samantha Kelleigh.
Asiyah Davis tied the score for the home team with a steal and layup with 31 seconds to play, and Nicholson then hit the first of two free throws with 12 seconds on the clock to put PLU back on top, 66-65. Evergreen missed its first attempt at the win but got the ball back under its own basket with 0.6 seconds showing. The play was set up for Hunt, and she made the game-winning shot.
"The play was run for Chloee, and Chloee completely did instincts. I wanted a lob but she saw her (defender) and she made an adjustment, and that's all Chloee," Evergreen head coach Jen Schooler said.
Evergreen trailed only once in the first 20 minutes, that coming when PLU's Kaelyn Voss hit the opening basket about one minute into the contest. The Geoducks eventually took a 31-26 lead at the half, but that only set up the exciting second half.
When Pacific Lutheran rallied to get on top by nine points in the fourth period, the Geoducks adjusted, said Schooler. "We went back to what got us there and that was Gabi (Fenumiai) and that was Autumn (Moorcroft) and that was simple, extra passes. And then at the end, people just took care of what they needed to take care of and it just happened to be that Chloee took care of us tonight."
Fenumiai had her best game of the young season, notching a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Davis was effective off the bench with 16 points, and Moorcroft was outstanding on the boards, grabbing 11 to go with six points. Hunt had eight points and nine rebounds in a reserve role as the Geoducks enjoyed a 45-34 advantage on the boards.
Nicholson, who led the Lutes in their second-half comeback, finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds, both team highs for the visitors from Parkland. Kelleigh added 13 points in a losing cause.
Evergreen's next contest is also its Cascade Collegiate Conference opener, that coming on Nov. 29 at Northwest University.