The Gilroy Mustangs knew going into the NIKE Tournament of
Champions that the competition would be fierce and the Lady
Mustangs first round game against Tolleson lived up to the billing
of such an elite tournament.
Gilroy – The Gilroy Mustangs knew going into the NIKE Tournament of Champions that the competition would be fierce and the Lady Mustangs first round game against Tolleson lived up to the billing of such an elite tournament.
The Lady Mustangs were defeated by Tolleson 62-55 in overtime after both teams missed a chance to win the game in regulation. In fact, with the game tied 47-47 possession changed hands three times in the final 15 seconds.
First it was Tolleson that had a chance to win the game in regulation but a missed shot and a Gilroy rebound gave the Lady Mustangs their chance with less than 10 seconds remaining. Gilroy was unable to hang onto the ball however and the turnover gave Tolleson one final opportunity, which it failed to convert.
“The overtime went pretty much the same way as regulation. It was back and forth the whole way. They (Tolleson)) edged out to a 4 point lead late and we were forced to foul,” said GHS head coach Keri Williams. “Give them credit. They converted their free throw when they had to. The final score was not indicative of how close this game was. That was the largest margin that either team enjoyed all night.”
Williams admitted that the lack of a shot clock and the chance for her team’s opponent to stall with the rock was a tough adjustment for her team.
“There was a stretch toward the end of the game where they just held it for nearly three minutes,” Williams said. “But give our girls credit. They pushed the defense with just over a minute left in regulation and we forced the turnover and converted for the tying score.
“This was a good test for us. We haven’t been in overtime yet this year and we played hard,” Williams admitted. “We had way too many turnovers and were only 6-for-12 from the free throw line. That really hurt us.”
The leading scorer for the Lady Mustangs was Katherine Hussey who led all scorers with a game-high 19 points. Vanessa Wilkins added 13 points, Jessica Groppe dropped in 12 points and Kristen Campos had 9 points in the game. The high scorer for Tolleson was Genice Colorado with 14 points. Gilroy will play Valley today at 11am.
