After all the hard work the Cal Poly women’s basketball team put in this season, it all came down to eight seconds.
Trailing by one point to UC Riverside (19-11) in their Big West Tournament semifinal game, the Mustangs had precious little time to reflect on their season as junior forward Becky Tratter rebounded a missed free throw that allowed Cal Poly to push for an attempt at a game-winning basket.
“Trotter controlled that board and got it to (senior guard) Lisa McBride,” Cal Poly head coach Faith Mimnaugh recalled. “(Lisa’s) not necessarily known for her ball handling skills but she made a great decision on the break to find (sophomore forward Kristina) Santiago.
The Santa Maria native affectionately known as “T” drove towards the basket for an attempt to put the Mustangs into their first ever conference championship game.
“It was almost slow motion for us all,” Mimnaugh said. “The pass and ‘T’ running to the bucket and everyone just knew that ‘T’ was going to score. There was no doubt in anybodies mind.”
And score she did, hitting a driving layup with 1.8 seconds left that gave Cal Poly a 58-57 victory over the second-seeded Highlanders.
“Everyone went nuts,” Mimnaugh recalled. “I’ve never been here, so even I rushed the court. Everyone was jumping and screaming, crying and laughing.”
The Mustangs (21-10) limited Big West Conference Player of the Year Kemie Nkele to just 10 points and nine rebounds.
“Megan Harrison did a wonderful job limiting her,” Mimnaugh said. “She only had four shot attempts. Megan smothered her the whole night.”
But the time for celebration isn’t here just yet for Cal Poly. Waiting in the championship game is top-seeded UC Santa Barbara (21-9), another team that has beaten the Mustangs twice this year.
In Cal Poly’s previous losses to UC Santa Barbara the Mustangs have struggled defending Gauchos center Jenna Green. Mimnaugh said the team would employ the same tactics that they used on Nkele.
“Jenna Green is such a huge target and a presence for them,” Mimnaugh said. “We’re going to use a similar strategy tomorrow. But we also want to take care of the support players as well.”
The 1 p.m. Saturday game will be nationally televised on Fox Sports Network Prime Ticket from the Anaheim Convention Center.