With seconds left, a championship

With six seconds left on the game clock, junior Natalie Orr charged up the court, hounded by the same press defense that had disrupted the Bears’ offense all afternoon. With the score tied and the University of Chicago in the bonus, the Maroons couldn’t foul. Orr penetrated the left wing and made a beeline for the basket. Two seconds left. She took two steps and flung up a high-arcing prayer from 10 feet out. The ball bounced high off the backboard and through the hoop. Bears 77, Chicago 75.

Orr threw her fists up as the Bears’ bench emptied. Senior Jenn Dynis and sophomore Rachael Sondag were the first to reach Orr on the court, Dynis lifting her up in celebration.

“We didn’t have any timeouts left, so it really wasn’t a play,” Orr said of her last second serendipity. “My goal was to get a good shot or get to the line. I knew that driving to the basket would give me the best chance to do that.”

In what ended up being a de facto UAA championship game, Orr’s bucket proved the decisive score. It also capped off one of the wildest minutes in Washington University Field House history. With 47 seconds left in regulation and the Bears down by nine, the Red and Green team stormed back with 14 points before the buzzer. It was enough to capture the 77-75 win, the team’s fourth straight conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Down nine with less than a minute to play, senior forward Zoe Vernon ignited the comeback with a pair of free throws and a layup to bring the score within six. Here, the Bears made a critical tactical decision. In the NCAA you can foul before an inbound pass. This essentially lets a team pick who their opponents send to the free throw line. After Vernon’s layup, Wash. U. decided to foul the Maroons’ sophomore Olariche Obi. Although Obi had already connected on five of seven attempts from the charity stripe that Saturday, she was a career 46.2 percent free throw shooter.

“You play the numbers game,” head coach Nancy Fahey said. “She hit free throws before in the game, but you just have to play the numbers and wish for the best.”

The decision paid off. Obi missed both her free throws, and after senior guard Ereka Hunt drilled a three off the dribble to bring the Bears within a score, Obi missed another pair of attempts on the ensuing foul. It was the opening the Red and Green needed.

Wash. U. and Chicago traded pairs of free throws on the next two possessions, setting up a chance for the Red and Green to tie the game up with 23 seconds left.

Orr brought the ball up the court, and in a jump turn, gave a feed to Hunt, waiting on the right wing. Hunt sidestepped a closing defender and quickly launched a three. The ball appeared to sail off the mark before bouncing off the backboard and through the hoop. The Field House erupted.

“When I shot it, I knew that if it was going to go in—it was going to be a bank shot,” Hunt said. “It felt good; it was just aimed a little strangely.”

A double dribble by Chicago on the next possession set up Orr’s decisive drive.

Hunt’s two threes would have been impressive, even if she had played the entire game. But she didn’t. Instead, Hunt sat cold on the bench for nearly 39 minutes before getting subbed in for the final few Bears possessions.

“That was a tough spot to put her in,” Fahey said. “I just felt like it was a senior that needed to be in the game at that point in time.”

Hunt was confident about her ability to perform coming off the bench.

“I knew that I was in there because I am a three-point shooter,” Hunt said. “I had the opportunity to get open and knock them down…It doesn’t matter who it is. We’re a very even talented team and anyone can come in. And that’s just what happened.”

Chicago led for nearly the entire game thanks to a combination of stifling perimeter defense and prolific offensive rebounding. While most defenses are content to sit back and react, the Maroon defenders constantly hounded the Bears’ guards. By forcing Wash. U. to put the ball on the ground, Chicago was able to take away much of the crisp lateral passing that had defined the Red and Green’s offense this season.

“There was so much pressure on the point guards,” Fahey said. “We felt like we had to put the ball on the floor and go—that anything east and west was not very successful.”

At halftime, Fahey made the decision to have her power forwards bring the ball up the court—an unconventional decision, but one that paid immediate dividends. After scoring just 26 points in the first half and falling behind by as much as 13 early in the third, the Bears suddenly exploded for 24 points on nine of 13 shooting in that quarter. Having the power forward bring up the ball maximized penetration. It also collapsed the Maroons’ defense, opening up opportunities to kick out to the perimeter. The Bears’ three-point shooters took advantage, connecting on eight of the last 10 attempts in from range.

While the Bears made brief forays to close the game, taking a one-point lead late in the third quarter, the Maroons’ rebounding kept Wash. U. chasing a deficit until the end. Chicago torched Wash. U. on the offensive glass all night, pulling down 19 offensive boards for 26 second-chance points. Six of those rebounds came from Obi, who finished the game with 21 points and 12 total boards.

With the win, the Bears secure the program’s 23rd conference championship and improve to 23-2 overall on the season. They now await the results of the NCAA Selection Show to find out their tournament draw. Their first match, regardless, will take place this Friday, location to be determined.