ROCKLIN, Calif. - With just 18 seconds left in regulation the Warriors were tied with the visiting UC Merced Bobcats at 55 apiece, with the opportunity of the final possession. Taking the ball out sideline, the Warrior let the clock dwindle to 10 seconds before action resumed, Olivia Luu made the pass to Ashlyn Jones for the game-winning jumper on the baseline as the women's basketball team sealed the victory, 57-55.

"This is probably the hardest we have played all year," head coach Kurt Westendorp said. "We did a great job battling and competing with them because they have some really good size in the post that is hard to rebound against."

This the second time the two teams have met this week, the last meeting being Tuesday where the Warriors came back in the second half to take the win 81-67. With today's win, Jessup advances to 6-1 going into conference play next week.

It was a strong start for the Lady Warriors out the gate, Rona Chavez continued to show her talents from beyond the arc with two in the first quarter. After the first 10-minutes of play the Warriors trailed the Bobcats 13-17 but would come out strong again to start the second quarter.

O. Luu lead the pack with an and-one opportunity just two minutes into the quarter, driving through the lane and sinking her free-throw to cut the Bobcat lead to 3 (16-19). Jones followed suit sinking two from the line to tie it up 19-19 with a little over 5 minutes left to play in the half.

Tie at 26 each, Jones added another pair at the line for the lead to start the 4-0 run. The Warriors would head to the locker room with a two-point advantage over UC Merced, 30-28.

"I really liked the way we opened the game, we controlled the game enough to keep it even but we had three in foul trouble," said Westendorp. "I felt really good coming out of the break with people not being in foul trouble, so we could have full force going into the second half."

An early spark for the Bobcats in the second half gave them the lead by as much as four before Jessup started chipping away to regain momentum. O. Luu hit a three pointer with 4:00 in the third quarter to go for the 37-34 lead followed by a smooth jumper by Lily Hagerty to go up by 5 (39-34).  Chavez would close the quarter with back-to-back three's as the Warriors led 48-40 with the final 10 minutes ahead of them.

Continuing their offensive dominance, the Warriors held on to the lead halfway through the final quarter before the Bobcats chipped away to tie it up 55-55 with three minutes left to play.  The game would go scoreless until the final two possessions with 18 seconds on the clock.

"We knew the set we wanted to run, we knew the time, we couldn't have done it any better," coach Westendorp said. " I was very proud of the execution of that play and Ashlyn stepping up after the turnover the possession before and knocking down the game winner."

With the game-winning jumper, Jones finished with a double-double, 12 points and 11 rebounds. Chavez led offensively with 17 points, going 5-9 from beyond the arc with 4 assists and 2 steals. Sara Vasquez added 10 points, O. Luu with 6 and Janelle Luu with 5.

Jessup will face Biola next Saturday on the road before heading back home to take on Dort on December 19th at 5:30pm.

"I am excited about getting into the GSAC," Westendorp concluded. "I think the non-conference schedule has prepared us well and put us in positions where we were in close games, and in conference we are going to have close games. I'm glad non-conference has prepare us for those game situations."