EDMONTON — With the score 65-62 and the game in her hands, Alberta Pandas guard Jenna Harpe had all of 7.9 seconds to extend the game in front of her home crowd.
She missed. The ball rebounded back to her. No dice. The buzzer sounded—game over.
The Saint Mary’s Huskies survived to take the U Sports women’s basketball consolation final in the tournament’s tightest matchup yet.
Harpe, who spearheaded the Pandas’ consolation semifinal win and picked up a team-high 18 points this game, couldn’t do enough to overcome a stingy Huskies defence.
Early on, Harpe looked like more than enough, dropping 10 first-quarter points to thrust Alberta to an 18-14 lead heading into the second quarter.
SMU prepared the same strategy from their previous game against the UFV Cascades, shooting for threes as often as possible. Guard Alaina McMillan netted two threes towards her 10 first-quarter points.
But Alberta excelled in the paint, drawing plenty of fouls and picking up 11 free-throw points through the first half.
Down 29-23 in the second quarter, a 9-0 run was just what the doctor ordered for the Huskies, and who else but McMillan to guide them with multiple three-point buckets.
On the other side of the court, SMU smothered the Pandas with excellent defensive, rebounding to take a 39-37 edge into the final half.
A stale start to the third quarter resulted in the Huskies surrendering the lead, even without Harpe recording a single point. Air ball chants filled the arena as SMU missed shot after shot in the early minutes of the frame.
Strong rebounding under the boards kept the Huskies in the game, but that coincided with play driver McMillan being kept off the scoring in the quarter.
With one quarter left to play, SMU and Alberta had spent nearly the same amount of time with the lead, promising a thrilling conclusion.
Some of the tournament’s best defence was soon on full display, as both teams struggled to gain any offensive edge.
However, after attaining just three free-throw attempts all game, the Huskies finally got their chances at the line and capitalized to come out in front.
In the final minute and down 63-62, the Pandas had the game in their hands after Huskies guard Aki Kobayashi missed her three-point attempt.
But before they could even cross the mid-court line, Alberta made an egregious turnover allowing McMillan to drain two free-throws after being fouled.
With under 10 seconds left, guard Jayden Tanner inbounded to Harpe, whose sharp-shooting ran out at the wrong time.
Even as losers of the consolation final, the Pandas were met with thunderous applause as they exited the court for the final time this season under a tunnel of Alberta fans.
Featured image by Owen Spillios-Hunter/The Charlatan.
