Down six points midway through the second quarter, junior guard Sidney Richards got a kick-out pass from junior guard Annika Shah, and knocked down the first Cal Poly three-pointer of the game from the left wing.
Just seconds later, Richards found herself with the ball behind the arc again, and proceeded to drain her second three in less than a minute, tying the game and fueling the packed home crowd to get even louder than before.
Coming off a gutting overtime loss at UC Riverside, the Mustangs (15-11, 11-6 Big West) got the best of UC Santa Barbara (16-11, 10-7 Big West), in a nail-biter 73-64 finish on Thursday, Feb. 29.
Richards kept her foot on the gas the rest of the way, making two more threes and finishing the game with a career-high 17 points and five assists.
“My teammates really found me at the three point line, and I had to give them the assist and knock it down,” Richards said.
Though the final score showed a nine-point difference, the game was far from easy for the Mustangs. A late push by the Gauchos brought the score to within three with less than a minute to go. A timely bucket from senior forward Natalia Ackerman and steals by graduate student guard Ania McNicholas and junior guard/forward Sydney Bourland sealed the Mustangs’ signature home victory.
In a game with numerous playoff implications, the victory propels the Mustangs past the Gauchos and all the way to fourth in the Big West, which would earn them a first-round bye in the upcoming playoffs.
“After tonight, I’m really excited,” head coach Shanele Stires said. “I’m really proud of our players and I think it just shows that we still got another gear that we could find, and I’m looking forward to helping our ladies find it.”
Bourland was a key contributor on both ends of the floor for the entire game, putting up 14 points and nine rebounds in a team-leading 39 minutes.
“They did a great job guarding Annika [Shah] so it opened up a lot for me and [Richards] to attack the basket,” Bourland said. “I think the way their defense works, you have to attack and get to the hoop and that’s what we did.”
Ackerman, who has solidified herself as one of the most consistent contributors for the Mustangs, totaled 14 points and 11 rebounds, her third double-double in a row and 10th on the year.
In their last game vs UCSB, the Mustangs lost in overtime by just one point. This time, the Mustangs were able to give themselves just enough breathing room through a monster third quarter to withstand the Gauchos’ comeback attempts.
“We had an opportunity to kind of throw a haymaker and get some separation. And luckily, we were able to do that,” Stires said. “I mean, our third quarter was special, to see us really separate from them.”
To Stires, one of the biggest takeaways from the game was the Mustangs’ lack of turnovers, something that has plagued the team since the beginning of the season. They finished with just seven on the night.
With just three games to go in the regular season, all three will have the utmost importance for the Mustangs in their playoff push. Their first true game of the year against the 13-4 UC Irvine looms just one week away, after their initial matchup was forfeited.
“Today was a huge game for us,” Bourland said. “We’re going game by game, but we’re just trying to get better and get ready. We’re coming for Vegas, we’re coming for the Big West Championship.”
In their next matchup, the Mustangs will look to hold onto their top-four spot on the road against CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, March 2.