Fort Wayne, Ind. – Omaha's freshman guard Ellie Brecht banked in a jumper with three seconds left in regulation to help UNO upend Fort Wayne 60-58 on Thursday evening in Summit League play.
UNO improved to 11-9 overall and evened its Summit League mark at 4-4. IPFW dropped to 4-17 overall and 0-8 in league play.
Mikaela Shaw had her eighth double-double of the season to lead the Mavericks. Shaw scored 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor and grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds. Abi Lujan added 10 points and three boards off the bench. Amber Vidal chipped in nine points and four rebounds, while Ellie Brecht added eight points.
Keanna Gary had a double-double for the Mastodons with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. De'Jour Young added 12 points, while Rachel Rinehart added seven points and seven rebounds.
Both teams struggled early to find their shooting stroke as the two teams were tied 5-5 midway through the opening quarter. A Gary lay-up and a pair of free throws gave the Mastodons a 10-5 lead with 4:25 left in the opening period. Two Shaw free throws and back-to-back 3-pointers from Brecht gave the Mavs a one point lead with under a minute remaining, 13-12. Caroline Hogue drained Omaha's fourth 3-pointer of the quarter at the end of the period to extend the Mavs' lead to four, 16-12.
UNO would extend its lead to seven points, 25-18, midway through the second quarter on a jumper from Vidal. IPFW went on a 7-0 run over a five minute span to draw even with less than a minute remaining in the half, 25-25. Remy Davenport found Vanessa Barajas alone under the basket with four seconds left in the half for an uncontested lay-up and the lead at the intermission, 27-25.
Omaha was unable to capitalize on the momentum to start the second half, but continued to hold IPFW at bay. The Mastodons' Rinehart hit the team's first 3-pointer of the game with 6:17 left in the third quarter to put Fort Wayne in front, 34-33. Buckets by Shaw and Vidal put Omaha back on top by three, 37-34. The Mastodons tied things up again at 40-40 with 1:06 left in the period. Lujan would sink 1-of-2 free throws to give the Mavs a one point lead heading into the fourth quarter, 41-40.
Fort Wayne's Kamilah Carter opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-pointers as the Mastodons went on a 10-3 run to take a seven point lead, 50-43, with 6:25 left in regulation. A Shaw jumper and an old fashioned three-point play by Vidal cut IPFW's lead to one, 52-50. Lujan scored seven straight points for Omaha as it regained the lead with 2:27 remaining, 57-53. Carter would again start the Mastodon comeback attempt by sinking two free throws and then set up Allyson Bunch for the game tying 3-pointer with 50 seconds left. Following a UNO timeout, Brecht and Davenport each missed contested shots to give Omaha the lead, but each time the Mavs came up with the offensive board. Head coach Brittany Lange called a timeout with 14 seconds left in regulation to draw up the final play. Brecht would receive the inbounds pass and take a dribble before banking in the game winning shot with three seconds left in regulation.
The Mavericks will open the second half of the Summit League schedule in Macomb, Ill. against Western Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 4:30 p.m. Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
