ST. GEORGE, Utah – Damaya Telemaque hit a driving layup with just 4.2 seconds to play in overtime to give the Sam Houston women's basketball team a 74-72 win over Dixie State on Wednesday night at Burns Arena.
It was the fourth straight win for the Bearkats (9-12, 4-6 WAC) who led 55-37 with just 44 seconds left in the third quarter before Dixie State (7-13, 3-6 WAC) began its charge back, scoring 15 unanswered points – including the first 13 of the fourth quarter.
The Trailblazers finally drew even at 62-62 on the strength of a 4-point play from Emily Isaacson with just 19 seconds to play.
Faith Cook was able to put SHSU back in front with just 10 seconds left from the foul line, but Breaunna Gillen came up big again on the ensuing possession, scoring just before the regulation buzzer to send the Kats to overtime for the first time this season.
The overtime period was a back-and-forth five minutes, but Telemaque proved to be the difference, scoring each of the Kats' last six points, including the game-winner in the waning moments.
She finished with a game-high 19 points in just 23 minutes of work, hitting eight of her 14 shots from the floor. Cook opened up the game with a trio of 3-point buckets in the first four minutes of the game and finished with 17 points of her own, while
Courtney Cleveland (12 points) and
Madelyn Batista (11 points) joined them in double figures.
Batista also added 16 boards, tying her career high, to notch her seventh double-double of the year.
The Bearkats will now try to stretch their streak to five in a row on Saturday when they travel to Utah Valley. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m. CT from Orem, and can be watched on ESPN+.
