RENO — The Big Sky Tournament is off to a wild start in the biggest little city in the world.
Weber State didn’t panic early and Dee’Shyra Thomas came up in the clutch late to help the Wildcats earn the first win of the Big Sky women’s tournament here in Monday’s opening game. Thomas, Weber State’s All-Big Sky senior point guard, scored 16 of her game-high 25 points after halftime, including a left-handed layup with 95 seconds left to put her team up two and a cold-blooded jump shot from the left elbow with three seconds left in OT to give Weber State a 98-97 win over Sacramento State
Weber State senior Deeshyra Thomas
“The tournament right here, it’s always a fresh season so we wanted to come in and battle,” said Thomas, a third-team all-league selection. “You have to give everything you’ve got because if you lose, that’s it. This feels amazing.”
The eighth-seeded Wildcats will now play top-seeded Montana State in the first game of Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The Bobcats sewed up their second straight conference title with a 72-53 win over Weber in Bozeman last Friday, MSU’s 25th straight home victory. Weber State’s win snaps a six-game losing streak leading up to the tournament opener.
“We can’t look down, you can’t look back. You have to learn from it but you have to focus,” WSU sixth-year head coach Bethann Ord said. “Being a young team with crucial injuries, you have to have that mindset. If the team sees me staying positive and just getting back to business and understanding that it is a new season, they follow along. They know. This is about a championship.”
In a highly entertaining back and forth battle, Weber State put the ball in Thomas’ hands down the stretch. While Sac relentlessly crashed the glass on both ends — the Hornets built a 59-35 rebounding advantage led by Margaret Huntington’s 14 boards — Weber used patience as Thomas, sophomore Jaiamoni Welch Coleman and Tyschal Blake piled up points inside while Kailie Quinn got hot from outside.
Sac State led 70-62 early in the fourth quarter before Weber began to isolate Thomas and let their senior captain take over. Thomas scored eight straight points to give WSU a 75-74 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Thomas cut the lead to two, 87-85, with 80 seconds left.
Weber State’s Emily Drake
“Typical,” Ord said of her lone senior. “Typical Dee’Shyra. She wants to put the team on her back. She knew what she had to do at the end of the game and that’s who we want to have the ball in their hands.”
Blake cut it to 89-87 with 15 seconds left on a layup before an offensive foul on Gretchen Harrigan allowed Emily Drake to tie the game at 89 with nine seconds left in regulation.
Sac State all-league junior Maranne Johnson got a clean look with a second left in the fourth quarter that came up short. Thomas’ turn around fade away on the baseline hit the front of the rim to force overtime. But Thomas would get one more chance to be the hero.
Harrigan, who finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds — one of three Sac players along with Huntington (13 points, 14 rebounds) and senior Ashlyn Crenshaw(12 points, 10 rebounds) — hit one of two free throws to give the Hornets their last lead, 97-96, with 22 seconds left.
Ord took a timeout and called an isolation play for Thomas. She burned 20 seconds off the clock before nailing the jump shot from the left elbow with 2.9 seconds left.
“I wanted to let my teammates know that this is somewhere you want to be and this is somewhere you want to continue to play and advance,” Thomas said. ‘The experience is like no other so go out there and play your heart out and it will be a fun time.”
Deeshyra Thomas battles through contact
Thomas converted 7-of-9 shots after halftime and 10-of-18 overall. Welch-Coleman, a 5-foot mighty mite with some of the best ball handling skills in the league, slashed her way to 14 points and nine assists in 37 minutes. A good portion of her assists went to Quinn, who busted out of her shooting slump to hit seven 3-pointers and finish with 23 points.
“It’s very important to be patient, especially with their press break,” Thomas said. “They are flying around, trapping so you have to be very patient, in control and wait to see which pass is open.”
Sac State had one last chance. Johnson, one of the best 3-point snipers in the league, got a clean look from 25 feet that hit the front of the rim. Sac State’s season ends at 10-20 overall.
“We fought really hard and we were working really hard for each other,” said Johnson after finishing with 16 points, one of five Hornets in double figures. “We were crashing and making the extra pass. Unfortunately, we came up short.”
Sac State head coach Bunky Harkleroad employs an unorthodox style. The Hornets substitute like a hockey team, full court press for 40 minutes, and have goals of 100 shot attempts, 50 3-point attempts, to force 30 turnovers and to secure 35 percent of the available offensive rebounds. Monday, Sac shot 80 times, including 36 3-pointers but forced just 10 turnovers. The Hornets grabbed 24 offensive rebounds among their 59 boards but Weber shot 66.7 percent in the fourth quarter and 49.4 percent from the game to advance to the quarterfinals.
“Thomas did a great job as their go-to,” Harkleroad said. ‘What made it tough was Quinn knocked those shots down and really stretched us out.
Sac State junior Maranne Johnson
I liked our fight. I like the way we defended at times but late in the game with a hot shooter and then you have to defend Thomas, that’s tough.
“We missed 11 free throws in an overtime loss, which made it incredibly hard to swallow. I’m proud of my team. It’s tough when you see three players with double-doubles and you lose. Our effort was great on the glass. This group kept fighting and I really appreciate our team.”
Now Weber State prepares for the defending league champions. The Bobcats lost on a half-court buzzer beater to Idaho State in last season’s quarterfinals, part of a four-game losing streak to end an otherwise banner season. This year, Montana State enters the tournament on a four-game winning streak including last week’s win over Weber.
“We are excited,” Thomas said when asked about the rematch. “I think it’s going to be a much different game this time. Just like we said, this is another season, a different energy and atmosphere. We are excited to see them again.”
“It’s really hard to beat a team three times,” Ord added. “We just played them but they didn’t see the team we have. It’s going to be a different team for us. We know their players inside out. We will get after it.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
