Wolves Trip Up Geoducks in Overtime
MONMOUTH, Ore. – Jordan Mottershaw hit a pair of free throws with one second left in overtime Sunday afternoon to give the Western Oregon Wolves a 77-75 non-conference women's basketball win over The Evergreen State College at WOU's New PE Building.
For the Wolves it was their first win of the season against three defeats, while the Geoducks were playing their season opener.
Victoria Elleby and Uriah Thomas had big games for the Geoducks, Elleby scoring 22 points and Thomas finishing with 21. Elleby shot 8-for-13 from the field and also grabbed eight rebounds, and Thomas was 10-for-16 from the floor while also grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Autumn Moorcroft finished with eight points, seven rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Mottershaw led the Wolves with 20 points, followed by Sydney Azorr with 17 and Michelle Bromagem with 14. Jasmine Miller led the Wolves with seven rebounds.
Evergreen shot the ball well, finishing 30-for-65 from the field for 46 percent, compared to 28-for-73, or 38 percent, for Western Oregon. The Geoducks won the rebound battle, 48-42.
The Geoducks took their largest lead of the game at eight points, 25-17, on Moorcroft's free throw with 4:47 left in the second quarter. The teams eventually went into the halftime break with Evergreen holding a 32-30 advantage.
The final two quarters were close, with neither team leading by more than five points over the final 20 minutes of regulation. Evergreen grabbed a 59-55 advantage on a pair of Lacey Morris free throw with 2:50 to play, only to see Western Oregon go ahead 60-59 on a three-point basket by Bromagem and a layup by Kelsey Henry.
After Elleby's free throw tied the game at 60-60 with 50 seconds to play, Bromagem again nailed a three-pointer to put the Wolves back on top, 63-60. Thomas, a 6-0 senior post, then stepped out beyond the three-point arc and tied the score with 19 seconds to play.
Western Oregon had two looks at three-point shots to win in regulation time but missed both.
The Wolves scored the first five points of the overtime period and later led 70-65 when the Geoducks scored eight of the next 10 points to go on top, 73-72. Elleby opened the run with a layup and Irene Moore finished it with a jump shot.
Bromagem again figured into the picture, putting the Wolves on top with another three-point bucket, only to have Elleby tie it at 75-75 on a pair of charity tosses with 16 seconds left.
Western Oregon then worked the clock for the final shot and drew a foul, leading to Mottershaw's game-winning free throws.
Evergreen returns to action at 4 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts Saint Ambrose (Iowa) at CRC Gymnasium.