Huizar's Three-Pointer Lifts LSUS to Victory
February 19, 2009
MOBILE, Ala-- LSUS' Valerie Huizar drilled a pair of late three balls, including one with six seconds remaining, to pull out an 81-80 victory over the Mobile Lady Rams.
Huizar finished with 19 points, tying teammate Quan Joseph for team-high honors. Joseph finished the game shooting 8-for-9 from the field.
The first half saw some hot shooting with the Lady Pilots hitting 61% of their shots and the Lady Rams firing at 50%. Gerica Johnson tallied 12 points in the opening half for Mobile, while Joseph put up 11 points for the visitors.
The Lady Rams started the first 20 minutes on fire, going up 16-9 in the first 6:33 on a three ball from Blair Stevens and 8 points from Goodly. The Lady Pilots rallied to cut the lead to 23-22 and then took their first lead of the half at 29-28 with 3:06 remaining when Jospeh hit a freebie.
LSUS led by as much as 4 points in the half before heading into the break with a two-point edge.
After LSUS carried the 35-33 advantage into intermission, the second half offered plenty of excitement for both sides with 8 lead changes. Mobile went ahead 63-62 with 7:27 left on a McIntosh bucket and held the lead until the very end.
With Mobile up 78-75, Huizar drained a three ball with 42 seconds left to tie it up, and after Mobile's Goodly put the Lady Rams ahead with a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left, Huizar struck again. She sank a three-pointer with 6 seconds on the clock for the decisive score.
Mobile (12-15, 5-10) got a tremendous effort from its leading trio of Johnson, Danielle Goodly and Sherri McIntosh, but it was not enough. Johnson scored a career-high 29 points with 5 assists, Goodly added 18 points and 7 assists, and McIntosh put up a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds with 6 assists of her own.
LSUS (22-4, 12-3) will stay in Mobile for a Saturday contest versus Spring Hill. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 P.M.
*Story courtesy of the Mobile Sports Information Department
