UPDATED: USD women squeeze out Summit League win with 1.1 seconds to go, will play SDSU Monday at noon
An 11-0 lead to start the game. A leading scorer with 35 points. Fifty-two points in the paint.
It looked to be Western Illinois’ day.
But the University of South Dakota’s Raeshel Contreras cashed a deep three with 1.1 seconds left to give the Coyotes a 96-94 win, catapulting her team to Monday’s Summit League Tournament semifinal against South Dakota State.
“My heart about exploded,” senior Polly Harrington said. “I was at half court, and I didn’t know what to do. I just stopped and started screaming. That’s what you play for, those type of moments.”
The Coyote women looked beaten. They trailed the Leathernecks 93-85 with just over a minute left, and Western’s best player Ashley Luke was dominating USD in the paint.
Then, three triples in the final minutes and a broken play freed up Contreras to play the hero, as she hit the game-winner in front of a stunned Sioux Falls Arena crowd.
“I thought we were going to go with our first and second team all-conference players,” Williams said about the last play. “Polly and Nicole off the ball screen action. I felt really confident they would make a play, and they did. Nicole made an unselfish play when she kicked it to Raeshel. She hit a big one for us today.”
Luke ended with 35 points and 13 rebounds for Western, but it was in vain. Contreras finished with 22 after her clutch shot, while junior Nicole Seekamp led USD with 26 points.
Western Illinois looked in control up 32-15 in the first half, and the eight point lead late as mentioned earlier. It should have been Western’s win and Luke’s moment.
“Ashley Luke works so hard on both ends of the floor,” Harrington said. “You can tell she wants to win. Kudos to her.”
USD was trying to survive. The Coyotes had four players with four fouls, 16 turnovers and allowing the Leathernecks to score in the paint all game.
But the Coyote women were the ones smiling after the game.
“I wish it wasn’t that hard,” Williams said. “But that never say die attitude, I wish we could bottle that for every team after them.
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We’ve got some fighters.”
USD managed to grab their first lead in the second half 62-61, and the rest of the half was back-and-forth.
Eventually, Western’s control of the outcome ran out.
The biggest roar of the game signified another USD-SDSU matchup in the conference tournament.
Once the 1.1 seconds ran out, the Coyote women took a deep breath. And it’s onto the semifinals.
“I feel proud that we are in a position to move on in this tournament,” Williams said. “It’s been survive and advance. I’m excited about another opportunity.”
The USD-SDSU matchup will be a rematch of last year’s conference tournament championship game. SDSU advanced to the NCAA national tournament with a 56-53 win in the same arena, and plenty of SDSU fans were around to see their rival’s incredible comeback win.
SDSU topped USD 99-88 one week ago at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.
“Obviously, it’s South Dakota State, it’s going to be another rivalry game,” Seekamp said. “We just have to look at it as the next game on our schedule. Any team, we’re going to go out and want to win.”
Tip-off for the semifinal will be noon tomorrow.
