Fullerton, Calif. – Jessup University's women's basketball team (11-3, 2-1) played their first conference road game of the season at Hope International (7-4, 0-2) and their first under the direction of head coach Emilie Blate in her inaugural year with Jessup. The Warriors struggled early but made the fourth quarter comeback needed to steal an overtime victory 63-56.
The Warriors this season love finishing games but appear to hate starting them. Jessup absolutely could not get a shot to fall for them in the first quarter at Fullerton. Jessup only shot 18% from the field on the quarter. To be fair, the Royals were off the mark as well, having 4 shots drop only after bouncing around the rim. The scoreboard; however, did not give consideration to how the ball found the bottom of the net and the Warriors found themselves down big 19-6 after one quarter of play.
Jessup started catching their stride in the second quarter, fueled in part by some ferocious defense. The Warriors forced three shot clock violations in the first five minutes of the second quarter. The defense opened up opportunities offensively for the Warriors and a last second layup by Senior Crystal Sewell (Ophir, CA) closed the Warriors' deficit to eight, 30-22 heading into the locker room.
After the half-time locker room talks, the game was locked in place. Both teams battled ferociously over ten minutes of play but neither was able to find a significant advantage over their opponent and the quarter finished 41-30 in favor of the Royals.
The fourth quarter of play was all excitement in Fullerton. The Warriors went straight to work on a 13-2 run capped off by junior Alyssa Perry (Hughson, CA) knocking down a jump shot to take back Jessup's first lead since the opening minute of play with just three minutes remaining on the game clock.
The Royals didn't roll over, they battled back to a two point lead of their own but Sewell negated the lead with a layup and the game was tied 49-49. Jessup earned yet another stop on defense and with three seconds on the clock freshman Olivia Luu (Riverbank, CA) nailed a three from the left wing.
The game looked all but over when Hope's Marissa Rendon shot a normally ill-advised guarded three-pointer from five feet behind the three-point line. The ball was at the top of its arc as the final buzzer sounded, just before the stadium watched the ball fall directly through the net to tie the score.
Despite the setback, the Warriors kept their wits about them. They continued the work they had started in the fourth quarter and after solid free throw shooting down the stretch Jessup found a comfortable seven point win at the end of overtime, 63-56.
"We are so proud of the fight and heart our team showed tonight," said Blate. "Hope came out very strong but we stayed composed and never gave up all the way through overtime. We will enjoy this victory and then refocus on finishing the road trip strong."
Sewell led the Warriors in a big way over the course of the night, grabbing her fourth double-double of the season dropping 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Sophomore Rona Chavez (Clayton, CA) shot the lights out posting 18 points of her own after making 5-7 from the field, 3-4 of which came from three-point range, and nailing 5-6 from the free-throw line.
The Warriors remain on the road to take on Vanguard University on Saturday. William Jessup will return to home conference play on January 14 at 5:30 p.m. to host Biola University.
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William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook), @JessupAthletics (Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat).
