The Upper Iowa women's basketball team took to the floor in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico on Thursday to kick off their run at the Puerto Rico Clasicó. UIU dropped a hard-fought 60-58 decision in overtime to the Chargers of the University of New Haven.
The Peacocks held a lead for most of the game, but a run by the Chargers midway through the fourth turned the momentum. UIU knocked down a three in the final seconds to tie the game and force overtime, but UNH opened the extra period with a 7-0 run and UIU never recovered. New Haven is now 4-1 overall, while Upper Iowa fell to 1-4.
After leading for most of the game, the Peacocks found themselves ahead by five points, 41-36, after a
Natalie Dinius three-pointer and a
Bekka Pierson free throw with just under eight minutes to play in the game. The Chargers used a fast 8-0 run over the next two minutes to claim a 44-41 lead, their first lead since the opening quarter. Lay-ups by Pierson and Domeyer preceeded a three-pointer from Dinius to return the lead to UIU 48-47. UNH forced a pair of turnovers and converted two lay-ups for a three-point edge with less than a minute to play. Dinius knocked down a trifecta to tie the game at 51-51 and then UIU held on to push the contest into overtime.
Three minutes into the overtime period, the Peacocks trailed 58-51 after a 7-0 run by the Chargers, which was fueled by four turnovers on UIU's five possessions in the opening minutes. The Peacocks fought back and cut the gap to two, 60-58, on an
Emma Gaber three-pointer with 10 seconds on the clock, but a final game-winning shot was off the mark.
Upper Iowa took care of the ball better than usual through the first three quarters with only 12 turnovers, but the Peacocks turned it over 11 times in the final quarter and overtime. The Chargers turned the 23 UIU turnovers into 23 points. The Peacocks also struggled behind the three-point line knocking down just 5 of 25 attempts for the game including 1 of their first 15 tries.
Savannah Domeyer led the Peacocks with a double-double including a career-high 22 points on 10 of 12 shooting and 12 rebounds.
Dinius netted 13 points on 4 of 16 shooting including 3 of 12 from deep, while
Haley Martin added 8 points while knocking down 3 of her 4 shots. Dinius and Martin both pulled down 5 rebounds.
Alexandria Kerr led the Chargers with 24 points and 8 rebounds, while Allieyah Cubbage added 12 points.
Upper Iowa will take on the University of Sagrado Corazon on Friday at 8 p.m. CT.
