Ciba’s basket with 0.4 seconds left helps women’s basketball team nip Saint Mary’s, 70-68

OLIVET, Mich. – Senior Chelsea Ciba (Olivet) made a layup with 0.4 seconds left to help the Olivet College women's basketball team erase a nine-point deficit in the second half and beat Saint Mary's (Ind.) College, 70-68, this evening at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet. With the win, the Comets tie the single-season school record with their 15th win and concluded the first half of their Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) schedule with a 7-1 record.

The majority of the opening half was back-and-forth, featuring three tied scores and seven lead changes over the first 13 minutes and31 seconds of the game. After the Belles gained a 25-24 lead at the 6:29 mark, they went on 14-6 run to take their largest lead of contest, 39-30, at halftime.

Olivet opened the second half with a 10-3 scoring spurt to trim its deficit down to two points, 42-40. Saint Mary's answered with its own 8-2 run to take a 50-42 lead with 13:37 left in regulation. The Comets fought back by scoring eight straight points, including four for sophomore Dallas Austin (St. Johns), to tie the score at 50-50.

The Belles responded by putting the next nine points on the scoreboard for a 59-50 lead. The teams traded baskets to give Saint Mary's a 61-52 lead with 8:33 left in the game. Over the next five minutes, Olivet came back with its largest run of the game, 11-1, to take its first lead of the half, 63-62.

Ciba made a layup to push the Comets' lead to three points with 2:55 remaining. Krista Knapke made 2-of-4 free throws for the Belles before junior Carli Reid (Lansing/Waverly) made two free throws to make the score 67-64. Knapke split two more free throws.

 Senior Kelsey Campbell (Olivet) then split her own two free throws for a three-point Olivet lead with 22.3 seconds left. With 10.2 seconds remaining, Maddie Kohler made only the second three-pointer for Saint Mary's in the game to knot the score at 68-68.

After a timeout, the ball was passed into Ciba and she drove the length of the floor before making the layup with 0.4 ticks left. The Belles called a timeout, but their inbounds pass was knocked down by an Olivet player to end the game.

For the game, Olivet made 30-of-69 baskets (43.5 percent) to 29-of-63 (46.0 percent) for Saint Mary's. The Comets made two more shots from behind the arc, 4-2, while the Belles were 8-of-16 (50.0 percent) at the line to 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) for Olivet. The Comets out-rebounded Saint Mary's, 45-34, with a 14-8 edge in offensive boards.

Campbell led Olivet with 19 points to go along with five assists and five rebounds. Reid and junior Stefanie Lang (Valparaiso, Ind.) each had 12 points, while Lang led all players with 14 rebounds for her NCAA-leading 14th double-double of the season. Ciba scored 11 and dished out seven assists.

Knapke scored a game-high 23 points for the Belles. Ariana Paul added 12, and Shanlynn Bias and Maddie Kohler had 10 apiece. Bias and Eleni Shea each grabbed six rebounds.

The Comets will play their next three games on the road, beginning Saturday afternoon against Adrian College, starting at 3 p.m.

NOTES: Olivet tied the 1986-87 and 2012-13 teams for most wins. The victory also extended the Comets' win streak to 10 games.