CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte women's basketball needed a couple of buzzer-beaters in overtime by
Octavia Jett-Wilson to create the longest game in school history before pulling out an 88-83 win over Rice on Saturday afternoon. Jett-Wilson provided the game-tying buckets at the end of the first and second overtimes while
KeKe McKinney came up with a block, one of her eight on the day, on a potential Rice buzzer beater at the end of the third before the Niners finished it off in the fourth OT.
"We talked about it in every huddle, we're built for this," began Head Coach
Cara Consuegra. "Two teams that wanted it so bad. Our kids just made a couple more winning plays than they did as that's a credit to who we are as a program. It was just an outstanding win for our team."
JUST GETTING STARTED
McKinney converted the final shot of regulation to send Saturday into the first overtime where
Jada McMillian free throw and layup nearing the halfway point of the first OT tied things up at 62-62 after a bucket by the Owls put them up two at the 2:18 mark, the Niners got Jett-Wilson floater to go at the horn creating overtime #2.
JETT-WILSON CLUTCH AGAIN
Charlotte (8-6, 4-0 C-USA) needed an answer at the end of the second trailing 68-65 with 10 seconds left after a Rice (5-8, 0-5) free throw made it 68-65. Out of a Niners 30-second timeout, Jett-Wilson drilled the game-tying triple with three seconds left to send Saturday into a third OT tied at 68.
Consuegra on the Jett-Wilson Taking the Final Shot(s)
"It's who she is. It's how she's built. She plays with that chip on her shoulder and competes. When the game is on the line, I trust her. She's put the work in and competes better than probably any kid I've coached."
BLOCKING A GAME-WINNER
Both teams posted their best overtime period in the third with 11 points each as a four-point Rice lead just over 90 seconds into the third turned into a three-point lead by the Niners after a three from
Jacee Busick and back-to-back triples from Jett-Wilson in a 30-second span. Rice had to fight back and tie it at 79 with 41 seconds left and had the last possession, but this time it was McKinney who came up clutch with the blocked shot at the buzzer that would have given the Owls the win.
ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH
After a couple of Rice free throws just under 1:30 into the fourth extra frame, the Niners took over and finished it off on a 9-2 run to secure the five-point victory. A McMillian jumper got the ball rolling before four-straight points from McKinney and three final clutch free throws by Jett-Wilson at the line with under 30 seconds left sealed the five-point win.
OPENING 20
Charlotte raced out to a 6-0 start in the first 68 seconds with the first baskets of the day by
Molina Williams, McKinney and Jett-Wilson. After Rice got on the board with a layup,
Kameron Roach drained one of her two triples in the period to push the lead out to 11-3. Roach's second came 65 seconds after a McKinney layup thanks to a Rice turnover for a 16-8 lead at the 2:50 mark. A final jumper by the Owls at the buzzer ended the opening 10 minutes with a six-point lead for the Niners. After Jett-Wilson knocked down a three just 15 seconds into the second, Rice went on a 9-0 run to even the first half at 19 apiece with 4:08 before the half. A
Mya McGraw free throw snapped a nearly seven-minute scoring drought by the Niners for a 20-19 advantage. McMillian followed with the final field goal before a Jett-Wilson free throw with 23 ticks left sent the teams into the locker room tied at 23-23.
SECOND 20
McKinney posted four of the first six third quarter points from the Niners at the charity stripe before Jett-Wilson drained the next half-dozen putting Charlotte up nine, 36-27, with 6:07 to go in the third. A driving layup by McMillian slid the lead into double digits moments later before her final lay in with 10 seconds remaining gave the 49ers a bit of breathing room with a 47-41 lead after three. In the fourth, McKinney, Jett-Wilson and McMillian kept answering a flurry of points by Rice which saw the visitors take a 57-55 lead with 3:42 left in regulation. Tying buckets by Jett-Wilson and McKinney's at that 1:56 mark led to the overtime festivities.
BIG NUMBERS ON SATURDAY
Jett-Wilson's game-high 36 was her fourth career game dropping 30+ points with 14 of those coming in overtime alone. McKinney flirted with a triple-double scoring 17 points with 10 rebounds and her eight blocks, tied for third-most in school history for a single outing. McMillian finished a phenomenal weekend with 17 points and seven boards while Busick came up big on the defensive side of the court pulling down a career-high 12 rebounds. Charlotte's defense held Rice to 33% shooting on the afternoon and just 16% from three-point range forcing 24 turnovers.
ODU WEEK NEXT
Charlotte will now head into Old Dominion week facing the Monarchs twice beginning with a road game on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. Both teams will meet again on Saturday inside Halton Arena to complete this year's home-and-home. Both games will be on ESPN+ with a live radio and live stats as well. All links can be found online at
http://www.charlotte49ers.com.
