San Francisco
Visiting Cal Poly Hands USF First Defeat of Year in 62-61 Thriller
11/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SAN FRANCISCO — The Cal Poly women's basketball team claimed a close back-and-forth game over San Francisco on Friday night, prevailing in the clutch for a 62-61 win in War Memorial Gym at The Sobrato Center to hand the Dons their first loss of the young season.
Early on in the fourth quarter, USF (2-1) took the largest lead of the entire evening for either side, 44-38 (at the moment the game's 10th lead change, on the way to 13 fluctuations total, in addition to six ties).
But senior guards Lisa Marie Sanchez and Beth Balbierz sank back-to-back 3-pointers for Cal Poly to tie it right back up with 8:16 to go, followed by yet another trey from junior forward Amanda Lovely to put the Mustangs ahead 47-44 at the 6:54 mark.
Then up 58-57 with 47.6 seconds remaining, Sanchez bode her time just above the 3-point arc, backing her defender down with the shot clock expiring. Sanchez, last week chosen to the all-tournament team at the Corpus Christi Islander Classic, then hit what initially was ruled to be a long 2, with 15.8 seconds left, before a replay review determined it was actually a 3, making it 61-57.
USF couldn't get over the two-possession hurdle, closing with a made layup at the buzzer rather than a try at a potentially-tying 3.
The Dons' Rachel Howard had tied it at 55-all with 2:45 showing, but 20 seconds later, Mustang junior forward Hannah Gilbert converted an And-1 put-back, plus the free throw, to regain the lead at 58-55, setting up the dramatic finish.
The Mustangs (2-1) relied on a thoroughly balanced attack in the first half, with four players scoring between three and seven points apiece. Eight players came off the bench to combine for 12 points all before the break.
Cal Poly's defense also forced 11 turnovers by halftime (and 19 for the game) while holding USF to just 9-for-30 shooting.
A 3 by sophomore guard Gabby Grupalo — a Walnut Creek product back in the Bay Area — just five seconds before the end of the first half put the Mustangs up 26-23 at intermission.
Sanchez finished with 16 points and five rebounds, while sophomore wing Dynn Leaupepe and Balbierz both added 10 points, and Lovely (another Bay Area native, from Palo Alto) had nine points and seven boards.
Taylor Proctor led the way with 21 points and 13 rebounds for USF, which is looking to follow-up on a trip to the WCC Tournament title game from a year ago.
Cal Poly will now head to the East Bay to take on No. 21 Cal (3-0) at 2 p.m. Sunday in Haas Pavilion.
