It’s not often record-setting performances happen in defeat, though quadruple-overtime basketball games might be even rarer. Yet that’s exactly how Satuday’s SCIAC women’s basketball game played for out for Caltech at the University of La Verne as senior Kate Lewis (San Antonio, Texas / Ronald Reagan) had the game of her career in the Beavers’ […]
It’s not often record-setting performances happen in defeat, though quadruple-overtime basketball games might be even rarer. Yet that’s exactly how Satuday’s SCIAC women’s basketball game played for out for Caltech at the University of La Verne as senior Kate Lewis (San Antonio, Texas / Ronald Reagan) had the game of her career in the Beavers’ 100-98 quadruple overtime loss to the Leopards.
The forward contributed a career-best 32 points to the Beavers’ team total, which set a program record in SCIAC-only play and tied the all-time record. Lewis shot 14-for-22 from the field and did most of her damage in the fourth quarter, when the Beavers roared back from a nine-point deficit after trailing for the majority of the game to force overtime. She scored 15 points in that span and pulled down nine rebounds to go with five assists and one block.
Lewis was not the only Beaver to make the most of the extra time. Freshman guard tandem Samantha D’Costa (San Jose, Calif. / St. Francis) and Grace Peng (San Ramon, Calif. / California), like Lewis, spent nearly a full hour on the court relentlessly slashing to the basket and churning out points to help keep their team afloat. D’Costa finished the game with 25 points while Peng came away with 23; this marks the second time in the last two seasons the Beavers have had three players with at least 20 points in one game. The last time Caltech accomplished the feat came against Crossroads College in December 2015, when then-freshman Elizabeth Eiden (White Plains, N.Y. / Holy Child) led the way with 25 points. The sophomore also did her part Saturday, leading the team with 10 rebounds to go with six points. Meanwhile, freshman guard Jieni Li (Shanghai, China / Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ.) scored her first basket of the season coming off the bench.
Caltech started the game slow with just seven first-quarter points, but began to catch fire in the second half before exploding for 25 points in the fourth quarter to force overtime. The two teams traded baskets in the first overtime before a Bailey Kurahashi foul sent D’Costa to the line with a chance to give Caltech a late lead. The freshman made one of her two free throws, however, to send the game to double overtime.
Though Caltech led by as many as six points in the second overtime, this time the Leopards came charging back, scoring six points on three free throws and a trey in a one-minute span. Neither team scored in the period’s final 82 seconds, with the Beavers missing a pair of free throws and a layup but containing a ULV second-chance opportunity to bring about triple overtime. Each team led by two at one point in the period before Lewis hit a layup to tie the game at 87 and force a fourth overtime as Peng’s potential game-winner clanked off the rim.
The fourth overtime contained as many points as the second and third combined. However, the Leopards remained one step ahead of the Beavers throughout the final five minutes. Caltech did give itself a chance to force a fifth overtime when sophomore Alexa Lauinger (Ortonville, Mich. / Brandon) was able to commit a quick foul and send ULV’s Noelle Cobb to the line after Peng brought the Beavers within one on a pair of free throws with six seconds left. Cobb made just one of her two attempts, providing the Beavers just over five seconds to move the ball down the court and tie the game, but D’Costa ultimately missed a game-tying layup at the buzzer to bring an end to the longest game the Beavers have played on record.
Head Coach Sandra Marbut and the Beavers will get a few days to rest before they return at home against Chapman University (8-8 overall, 5-2 SCIAC) this Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
