Women lose at buzzer to San Mateo, amass 5-11 record
After playing hard all night, the Gavilan College women’s
basketball team suffered a heart-wrenching 53-51 loss to San Mateo
College in the closing seconds last Friday night at home.
Women lose at buzzer to San Mateo, amass 5-11 record
After playing hard all night, the Gavilan College women’s basketball team suffered a heart-wrenching 53-51 loss to San Mateo College in the closing seconds last Friday night at home.
The demoralizing blow occurred when San Mateo’s Stephanie Vorrises hit the game-winning bucket as her team’s shot clock ran to zero and the game clock read :02.
“It rolled in at the buzzer, but it was really close,” said Gavilan Coach Michelle Mannisto. “The official called it good, but I’m not sure that it was.”
After the questionable bucket, Gavilan got the ball back for one last Hail-Mary shot. But it all went for naught as the Rams’ inbounds pass was stolen and the game clock expired.
“We really could have won the game,” said the frustrated coach. “We were ahead by six points with three minutes left.”
According to Mannisto, her team fell apart down the stretch because it had been at least a month since they have been up against the type of zone offense that San Mateo runs.
“We are a young team and we just don’t know how to finish our opponent off when we’re ahead,” said Mannisto. “We probably had seven turnovers in the last five minutes. We just got real nervous and kept throwing the ball away.”
In addition to youth and turnovers, poor shooting at the free throw line also cost Gavilan the game. The Rams were only 9-for-19 from the line for the night.
With the loss, the Rams are now 5-11 overall. They will try to stop the skid tonight at home against San Jose City College. Beating San Jose, however, will be anything but easy. City College is ranked in the top 20 in the state.
“They run three people at you,” said Mannisto. “But we feel good about our chances if we can get through the press breaker and attack offensively. I know they are good but we tend to play up to the level that we are playing.”
Despite the 5-11 record, Mannisto still believes her young squad has a solid chance of making the playoffs.
“If we can get five more wins, I think we can do it,” she said. “We could have beaten San Mateo, and they beat San Francisco and Chabot. We still play both of those schools and maybe we can sneak wins in against Foothill, DeAnza and somebody else.”
Last season, the Rams made the playoffs with a record of 12-15. This season, the end result could be similar.
Qualification for post-season play is based on team record and difficulty of schedule.
If the schedule is hard, it is easier to qualify, as teams have qualified in the past with only two wins for the season.
“That’s the reason I play a tough schedule,” said Mannisto. “Eight of the teams that we play this year are in the top 20 in the state. Ventura, who we play on the 25th, is ranked No. 1 in the state.”
Two Ram players who looked to be in playoff shape against San Mateo were Stacey Perrien and Keisha Webster. Combined, the two players accounted for 63 percent of the Rams’ points. Webster led the way with 17 points and Perrien had 15.
