STATESVILLE— Had the Salisbury girls taken better care of the ball at the end of regulation, an overtime period might not have been necessary.
As it was, the Hornets had to learn a late lesson in patience with possession to avoid an upset at the hands of West Iredell.
Salisbury, which turned the ball over while trying to hold for the final shot of regulation, held possession for three of the four overtime minutes and scored on each of its five offensive trips to hold off the Warriors 41-38 on Tuesday night.
The Hornets committed just one extra-time turnover, which came after a missed free throw.
“We were able to score and then dictate what we wanted to do,” Salisbury coach Jennifer Shoaf said. “We didn’t get in a situation where we had to hurry to get points.
“I told them, ‘Until they come out on us man-to-man, we’re going to wait. We’re going to bore people, but we’re going to wait.’ ”
The Hornets (5-8, 3-1, CCC) were in good position to win the game in the fourth quarter, but with the score tied at 33-33 with 29.5 seconds left, Amber Wingerson got called for a moving screen near midcourt.
West Iredell forward Folatta Clark missed a short jumper off the glass as time expired to set up overtime, which the Hornets quickly took control of.
Salisbury got the tip and held the ball for 45 seconds before Jamie Seay found Ashton Hanrahan for a jumper from the left wing.
West Iredell’s Dee Lee missed a jump shot at the other end, and the Hornets held possession for the next 1:28 before Seay hit a cutting Shayla Fields for a layup from the right block.
Salisbury stopped the Warriors again, then Fields — who scored 21 points and pulled down 17 rebounds— hit one free throw to open up a 38-33 lead with less than a minute to play.
Cagney Bailey’s 3-pointer with 38 seconds left put a scare into the Hornets, but two free throws by Fields and one by Seay sealed the deal.
“(Shoaf) said this could put us down in fifth place, and that put our heads on straight,” said Seay, who hit a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and had four points. “We said we needed to come through and finish this out with a win.”
The Hornets were in such a predicament because of a sluggish start against the Warriors (3-11, 0-4).
Many of the players slept during the 40-minute bus ride to West Iredell, and they didn’t appear to wake up until a five-point, fourth-quarter deficit stared them right in the face.
Other than Hanrahan, who scored 10 first-half points on 4-for-7 shooting, the rest of the Hornets struggled.
Fields hit only 4 of her 15 shots through three quarters, and the Warriors led 25-20 going into the fourth.
Fields and the Hornets picked up their intensity and quickly tied the game at 25-25. Fields scored eight points in the fourth quarter, which featured four lead changes and three ties.
“I was so looking forward to the second half,” Fields said. “I don’t know what was going on in the first half.”
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NOTES:Hanrahan finished with 12 points, while Wingerson had a nice outing with four points and nine rebounds. ... Bailey led West with 13 points, while Clark and Lauren McClelland scored nine apiece.
SALISBURY (41) — Fields 21, Hanrahan 12, Seay 4, Wingerson 4, Hawthorne, Bauk, Edwards, Teamer, Charleston, Connor, Wilson.
WEST IREDELL (38) — C.Bailey 13, McClelland 9, Clark 9, Abee 3, Avery 2, Harris 2, Miller, T.Bailey, Camp, Lee.
Salisbury 7 9 4 13 8 — 41
West Iredell 6 7 12 8 5 — 38
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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com
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