WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Caltech Women Open at LSU With Last Second Victory 56-54
The Caltech Women's Basketball team opened the season with a shot heard round the world, or at least Southern California, topping La Sierra University at the buzzer. In a game where the odds seemed stacked against Caltech, the Beavers managed to hold their composure long enough to register the win. On the road, battling foul trouble the entire game, and with turnovers happening left and right, the Beavers managed to pull out of the less than pretty game a victory to add to the history books.
A neck and neck battle, Caltech swapped the lead with the Eagles multiple times, with the gap never growing wider than 6 points. The Beavers had their work cut out from them as senior Lisa Yee and frosh Sarah Wright were both sidelined with foul trouble early in the first half. Yee had been the mainstay in preseason scrimmages and was definitely big part of the game strategy, a strategy that changed quickly. To their credit, her young teammates held the line and the Beavers headed into the half with the narrowest of leads, 21-20.
Looking for breathing room in the second half, the Beavers hoped to open the gap, but were countered at every turn. Yee got to work with quick buckets and intensity, but La Sierra kept knocking at the door. The Eagles started to feel a hot hand and climbed into the drivers seat at the midway mark. Then Tech lost Yee for good with five fouls to her tally. Sent to the bench with only 8 points, Yee had to change gears to supporting her team with spirit, while the youngsters were left to get the job done. The sophomore trio of Erin Hoops, Teri Juarez and Krissy Dahl made a decision to go home with a victory.
Leading all scorers, Hoops got hot enough to nail two of her three from three point land, while Juarez made sure that lose balls went Tech's way. Dahl got tough in the paint and momentum was just about theirs again. La Sierra had different plans and decided to make their final surge...almost succeeding. Down one with 13 second on the clock, Tech sent La Sierra's best shooter to the charity stripe.
As kind as Lady Luck had been, her cruel side came forward for the Eagles as they missed both shots, leaving Tech the same one point margin to close. The rebound rattled around the hands in the paint, headed for out of bounds until a La Sierra player attempted the save, delivering the ball right into the Beaver's paws. Pushing the length of the floor, Tech looked for a shot first on the baseline with Juarez. Her eye for the trail sent the ball onto Dahl, who in an acrobatic display managed to toss up a hook from the mid post ending in a swish, the whistle, and 0.3 seconds on the clock. Her free throw would put the exclamation point on the final score as Tech watched the time expire.
Erin Hoops finished with 19 on the evening, including 3 of 8 from behind the three point arc and 5 of 7 from the free throw line. Other than the game winner, Krissy Dahl started the season with a double double, finding 14 points to pair with her 11 rebounds. Teri Juarez was a force on the glass with 8 rebounds, five of them on the offensive end. Juarez also finished 6 for 8 from the line to help out the Tech cause.
Caltech now looks ahead to the weekend as they head to Phoenix to take on Southwestern College (2pm tip off) before opening at home on the 23rd with Pacific Union College at 7:30pm.
GO TECH!!!
