SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Fans who gave into the temptation to abandon their screens with Southern Oregon trailing its NAIA Championships Round of 64 game by 29 points well past 9 p.m. Tuesday could not be blamed.
They'll wake up to news of the greatest comeback in Raider women's basketball history.
SOU looked as dejected down 37-8 as it did jubilant while celebrating a 68-66 victory over Wayland Baptist (Texas) after a surreal turn of events at Murchison Gymnasium. With four seconds to go, after one near-perfect quarter from the Flying Queens followed by three frantic ones from the Raiders,
Kami Walk muscled into the lane and banked in a contested 12-footer with her left hand to give SOU its first lead.
The miraculous series of events concluded with Kaitlyn Edgemon's missed jumper at the buzzer, sending the Raiders to a 7 p.m. matchup Wednesday against site host and No. 6-ranked Westmont (Calif.) in the Round of 32.
The Raiders (24-7 overall), seeded No. 7 in the Naismith quadrant of the bracket, were in a 25-6 hole after one quarter. By the four-minute mark of the second, they'd still made only one field goal.
Their veteran all-stars ultimately gave them life. Walk finished with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and
Brianna Phiakhamngon scored 21. The pair bookended a 13-3 half-ending surge, which left the Raiders down 45-27 but with a speck of momentum, by scoring five straight points apiece.
SOU outscored WBU 17-10 in the third quarter, but was still behind 64-55 with 4:30 to go.
Kalei Iwami and Walk hit back-to-back 3s to make it a one-possession game before WBU All-American Jenna Cooper-Jackson responded with a bucket. Walk came right back with a short-corner jumper to get the lead down to 66-63 with 2:29 remaining.
After forcing turnovers on back-to-back possessions, Phiakhamngon bounced in a 3 to finally tie the score with 53 seconds left.
Clara Robbins denied Cooper-Jackson on the other end to give SOU possession with 16 seconds on the clock, and Walk delivered the dagger out of a timeout.
Robbins had a big hand in the comeback, pulling down 10 rebounds – including five on the offensive end – scoring nine points, and hitting a pivotal 3-pointer, her first in a month, down the stretch. She was responsible, too, for holding Cooper-Jackson to 13 points, well under her average.
Danasia Allison was also active, collecting three of her four steals in the fourth. Iwami contributed nine points.
The Flying Queens, a No. 10 seed, had won nine of their last 10 games entering the contest, upsetting three nationally-ranked teams during the run. After shooting 18-of-30 in the first half – and capping their first-quarter blitz with a swish from midcourt – they went 9-of-21 with 10 turnovers in the second.
The Raiders are in the Round of 32 for the second consecutive season. They'll get a rematch against Westmont, which defeated them 57-40 in non-conference play on Nov. 12. The No. 2-seeded Warriors defeated Antelope Valley (Calif.), 84-62, in their first-round game to improve to 24-3.