FALLON - Fallon's Michelle Beach sunk a soft jumper with :09 left in overtime Tuesday to give the Lady 'Wave cagers a come-from-behind 45-44 win over visiting Carson.
The 'Wave (5-2) trailed by as many as four points in overtime, but Fallon clawed back to slice the lead to within a point after Liz Lewis took one step back from the three-point line and swished a trey. The Senators (3-7) had a chance to maintain the lead, but the Senators' Sarah Johnston couldn't connect on the front end of a bonus shot.
Once Beach made her shot, the Senators called at timeout to set up one final play. A long inbound pass was intercepted by Katarina Olivo as time expired.
"I was surprised Carson hit their first two shots (in overtime). That made me a little nervous," said Fallon coach Chelle Dalager.
She praised her players' grit for coming back and making good passes.
"When they work hard, they are a decent little group," she added.
Carson coach Alana Williams said it is a battle every time Fallon and the Senators meet. Carson won three straight over the 'Wave last year including a two-point win in Fallon.
"I thought it was a good game from start to finish," said Williams. "I felt like both teams played real hard."
Although both teams may have played hard, turnovers and poor shooting affected each squad throughout the nonleague game.
"I'm glad the kids got the win, but we have a lot of things to work on," said Dalager. "We spent too much time standing around and missing our shots on offense. Our defensive intensify drops."
Carson began to work better as a team in the second half, trailing the Greenwave 17-13 at halftime. Fallon jumped out to a seven point lead when Beach quickly released a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Fallon a 26-19 lead.
Nicole Scott shook off Fallon's double teaming and scored six points to slice Fallon's lead to a basket with 2:36 left in the third quarter. She finished the quarter with eight points.
Olivo sunk 1-of-2 free throws to give the 'Wave a 30-27 lead going into the final quarter of regulation play.
Olivo felt frustrated by her team's play.
"We weren't working together as a team. We were looking to create things by ourselves," she said.
Neither team could make its shots in the paint late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.
Fallon, though, made a 5-0 run to open the fourth quarter, but the Senators put together their own modest surge as Scott scored a basket, and Andrea Hoff had two put back shots from the left side of the rim as Carson trailed 34-33. Hoff provided much of Carson's second half scoring and finished the game with 15 points. Fallon's Stephanie Wolfgang sunk a free throw for Fallon's final point of regulation play.
Kelli Weyrick tied the game with a soft shot from the top of the key. Each team had a chance to win the game in the final :31 but Fallon and Carson each committed a turnover snuffing out any chance.
Fallon's performance in the first quarter overshadowed the next three periods.
The 'Wave jumped on Carson for a 10-4 lead on a combination of 3-point shots and layups. Carson snapped a four-minute scoreless steak on Weyrick's two free throws with 2:16 left. Fallon took advantage of the Senators' 10 turnovers in the quarter in racing to the 12-6 lead.
Neither team played well in the second quarter with Carson outscoring Fallon 7-5.
At one point the Senators cut Fallon's lead to 14-12 on a pair of Christy Works' free throws, but the 'Wave then relied on a 10-foot set shot from Beach and a free throw from Olivo to take a 17-13 led into the locker room.
Scott led all scorers with 16 points while Beach and Olivo paced Fallon with 11 points each.
