Buzzer-Beater Lifts Cowgirls to Victory

After taking a two-week break from basketball, the Cowgirls almost didn’t get to play in San Francisco Thursday night. And when the game did tip off, they got all they could handle from the Dons, relying on a bit of senior leadership to carry them down the stretch…

San Francisco, Calif. — In their first game back after two weeks off, the 22nd-ranked Cowgirls earned a 53-51 victory at the buzzer to beat the San Francisco Dons on Thursday night.

The Dons overcame a double-digit halftime deficit to pull within 48-47 with 1:19 left on the clock. Justyna Podziemska responded with a three-pointer to make it a two-possession game, but consecutive USF baskets evened the score with 21 seconds remaining. With the clock winding down on the last possession, Hanna Zavecz knocked down a shot at the buzzer to pull out the win.

“Senior leadership prevailed tonight,” said head coach Joe Legerski. “Our last three baskets were by Justyna, Dominique (Sisk) and the last one by Hanna.”

A power outage on campus delayed the game by an hour.

“The character of this group is tremendous to believe you weren’t going to play the game, and then the lights came back on,” Legerski said. “The brightest of all were Justyna and Hanna. Not only did Hanna score 16 points, she limited their top scorer to six points.”

Podziemska led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds, and Zavecz added 16 points and seven boards.

San Francisco (9-6) was led by Necolia Simmons off the bench with 17 points and six rebounds. Shay Rollins followed with 11 points and six rebounds. The Cowgirls (12-1) would score a free throw to take an early lead to begin the game, but two baskets by the Dons gave them a 4-1 advantage. A three-point play by Podziemska evened it all up, which was answered with a 7-0 run by San Francisco to give the Dons a seven-point lead, 11-4. Wyoming battled back and pulled to within 11-10 and eventually tied it up at 13 all.

Another 6-2 run by the Dons extended their lead back up to four, 19-15, but once again, the Cowgirls responded by scoring seven of the next nine points to take their first lead of the game at 22-21 with just more than seven minutes in the half. They would extend their advantage to six, 27-21, but the Dons wouldn’t go away, making another 6-1 scoring run to pull within 28-27. The Cowgirls would take a 30-29 lead in to the locker room.

It was low-scoring second half through the first media timeout as the two teams combined for just nine points, and the Cowgirls maintained a 37-31 lead. Over the next four-minute stretch, Wyoming extended the lead to double-figures, 41-31, setting up the final USF push.

Wyoming will begin its 2008 Mountain West Conference season on Wednesday, January 9, against the New Mexico Lobos. The game, which will be broadcast on CSTV, will tip off at 8:00 p.m. in Albuquerque.