THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Trailing 69-66 with two seconds left in the game, Cal Lutheran was fouled on a three-pointer and made the first two free-throws but couldn't hit the third and its late rally came up short against UC Santa Cruz, falling to the Banana Slugs 69-68 Saturday.
The Regals trailed 68-61 with under a minute to play when Haley Hodgson made two free-throws and Natalie Stone hit a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to make the score 68-66. Tyler Willis would make one of two free-throws before Janelle Porter was fouled attempting a three with two seconds left. The freshman would make the first two before the third just bounced out of the cylinder. After both teams fought for the rebound, the referees initially ruled it UC Santa Cruz's ball before changing the call and giving the ball back to CLU. The Regals would inbound the ball and Chelsea Jacoby had a shot from the baseline but it rimmed out at the buzzer, giving the Banana Slugs the win.
Cal Lutheran led at halftime but fell behind in the first minutes of the second half. The Regals would eventually trail by as many as 12 at 60-48 with 7:34 left to play before mounting its comeback. Jessica Salottolo would kick-start the rally with a three-pointer and then Porter went 6-of-6 from the free-throw line on CLU's next three possessions, making the score 64-57 with 3:41 left in the game. Salotollo had the next three points for the Regals to make it a four point game with less than two minutes to play. CLU would concede two baskets under a minute, setting up the wild final 30 seconds of the game.
Despite five first-half three-pointers from UC Santa Cruz, Cal Lutheran clung to a 35-32 halftime lead. In a fast-paced opening period, CLU trailed on three different occasions but had answers for each Banana Slug rally. After falling behind through the first 10 minutes of the half, Haley Hodgson pulled the Regals with a three-pointer from the top of the key, knotting the score at 19. Chelsea Jacoby would come up with a block and the subsequent rebound on the following possession and then found Trianna Owen for a fast-break layup, giving CLU the lead at 21-19.
The Banana Slugs later retook the lead after three three-pointers but Cal Lutheran would claw back with two baskets from Jacoby and another Hodgson. The Regals would then take the three-point lead into halftime thanks to two straight baskets from Stone.
Stone led CLU with her first double-double of the season, scoring a season-high 17 points while hauling in 10 rebounds. Hodgson had 14 while Salottolo had 12 off the bench. Jacoby finished with a team-high 12 rebounds to go along with seven points. Porter finished the game 8-of-9 from the free-throw line.
UC Santa Cruz's Sarah Mackey led all scorers with 19 points while Erin Joo was second with 14.
With the win, UC Santa Cruz improves to 18-9 overall.
Cal Lutheran (12-11 overall) closes out its regular season next week with home games against Whittier on Thursday, Feb. 20, and Claremont on Saturday, Feb. 22.
Box Score: UCSC 69 CLU 68
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