PG Kellyn Lees’ steal and basket with 17.9 seconds left broke a 49-49 tie and capped a late second-half comeback for host Moorpark (6-12, 1-0), which posted a 52-49 win over Cuesta (8-10, 0-1) in the WSC-North opener Wednesday night.
Lees’ grab was a bit of redemption in that it was her only steal of the night and her only basket of the night (she finished 1-for-10 from the floor) but it was definitely the play of the game. Cuesta had called timeout to set up a final play, but Lees’ intercepted a crosscourt pass at center court and went in for the go-ahead lay-up.
Cuesta still had some time to rally, but turned the ball over on its next possession. On the inbounds, SG Tedra Clark was fouled and made one free throw to extend the Moorpark lead to 3 with 7.7 seconds left. Then Cuesta got the ball into the front court, but time ran out before the Cougars could try a potential game-tying 3-point shot.
Cuesta led much of the game, taking a 23-14 lead after a 9-0 run in the first half and holding a 41-33 lead after a steal & basket by SG Haley Woeste midway through the second half. But Moorpark rallied, taking a 45-44 lead on a Clark three with 2:40 remaining. The lead then went back and forth until a free throw by SF Sara Nicholson tied the game with 34.4 seconds left, setting the stage for Lees’ game-winning steal & basket.
For Moorpark, Nicholson led the way with 18 pts and 6 rebs while PF Hayley MacArthur added 14 pts and 9 rebs. All that came despite both players battling foul trouble and carrying four fouls for the last 12 minutes of the game. Clark added 13 pts, including 4 threes. And Lees had just the 2 pts but dished out a team-high 4 asts.
For Cuesta, PG Missy Carreiro came off the bench to score 10 pts and dish out 4 asts. PF Jessica Hood had 8 pts. And Ctr Natalie Carr had an amazing game, pulling down 20 rebs for the Cougars. That was nearly one-third of all the rebounds by all the players in the game.
box score
Wednesday, January 3, 2007 – 7:30 pm
At Moorpark College
WSC-North (Women)
Cuesta 49:
12-Natalie Carr, C – 2/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 20 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 5 pts
20-Jessica Smith, SF – 2/5 fg, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pts
21-Tiffany Mobley, PG – 2/5 fg, 0/1 ft, 8 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 4 pts
23-Haley Woeste, SG – 3/11 fg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 7 pts
30-Jessica Hood, PF – 3/11 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
10-Missy Carreiro, G – 4/9 fg, 1 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 10 pts
31-Morgan Ferris, F – 2/6 fg, 3 reb, 2 pf, 4 pts
11-Krista O’Neal, F – 3/4 fg, 1 ast, 1 pf, 7 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 21/59 fg (.356), 2/5 ft (.400), 43 reb, 16 ast, 0 blk, 7 stl, 14 pf, 49 pts
3-pt fg (5): Carreiro 2, Woeste, Hood, O’Neal
Turnovers (15): Mobley 3, Hood 2, Carreiro 2, Ferris 2, O’Neal 2, Carr, Woeste, team 2
Moorpark 52:
3-Kellyn Lees, PG – 1/10 fg, 5 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
4-Hayley MacArthur, PF – 5/11 fg, 4/7 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 14 pts
11-Krystin Christ, C – 1/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 3 pts
21-Sara Nicholson, SF – 7/12 fg, 4/7 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 bl, 1 stl, 4 pf, 18 pts
24-Tedra Clark, SG – 4/12 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 13 pts
10-Elicia Hildreth, F – 0/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
32-Jessica Zuehldsorff, G – 1/4 fg, 3 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 19/55 fg (.345), 10/20 ft (.500), 41 reb, 12 ast, 5 blk, 5 stl, 11 pf, 52 pts
3-pt fg (4): Clark 4
Turnovers (14): Nicholson 4, Christ 3, Clark 2, Lees, MacArthur, Hildreth, Zuehldsdorff, team
Halftime Score: Cuesta 27, Moorpark 21
Updated Records: Moorpark 6-12, 1-0; Cuesta 8-10, 0-1
Lees’ steal & basket broke a 49-49 tie with 17.9 seconds remaining
