Stanislaus women lose heartbreaker in overtime

MONTEREY – Looking for its third straight victory, the Cal State Stanislaus women’s basketball team instead suffered a painful loss.

The Warriors blew a 10-point second-half lead and fell to Cal State Monterey Bay 63-59 in overtime on Friday night at The Kelp Bed.

Briana Cotton had 20 points, including the go-ahead free throw with 52 seconds left in regulation. However, the Otters sent the game into overtime with a free throw with 38 seconds left.

In overtime, Monterey pulled away with two minutes left as the Warriors (3-8 California Collegiate Athletic Association, 5-10 overall) were denied after consecutive conference victories.

Stanislaus’ Riley Holladay, a sophomore from Reno, scored from inside with 15:52 left in the game to give Stanislaus a 32-22 lead. About seven minutes later, Emma Keenan (20 points) hit a 3-pointer to cap a 17-3 run, giving the Otters a 39-35 lead.

From there, Monterey Bay led by as many as four, but the Warriors rallied in a see-saw game that saw 11 lead changes and five ties. Monterey scored first in overtime and never trailed.

Cotton, a senior from San Jose, had 20 points and junior Alysa Valentine added 11 for the Warriors, who were outrebounded 55-38 and were just 6 of 28 from the 3-point stripe.

The Otters, who had lost four straight, improved to 2-9, 4-12. The Warriors play Cal State East Bay this afternoon at 5:30 p.m.

This story was originally published January 23, 2015 at 8:55 PM with the headline "Stanislaus women lose heartbreaker in overtime."