The St. Edward’s women’s basketball team defeated the St. Mary’s University Rattlers on Monday evening in the eleventh hour of an already close game. The Hilltoppers started the game off with a strong defense, ending the first quarter leading with a score of 16-10. 

After halftime, the crowd brought higher energy to the team and the Hilltoppers responded with stronger teamwork and drive. Suni Davis stood out the entire game. She moved quickly down the court, committed to shots mid-takedown and acted as a team leader on and off the court, giving direction and offering support to her teammates. 

“I just think a lot of it is knowing,” Davis said “Knowing my teammates, knowing what works best for us, how to make us stick together.”

The score stayed neck-and-neck all game, up until the last 30 seconds. At 1:45, the score was 59-58. At 0:52, Mikah Chapman made a layup, gaining the last winning points for the Hilltoppers despite St. Mary’s scoring another two points. Each team called a timeout and came back with a vengeance for the last 30 seconds. Both the Hilltoppers and St. Mary’s gave it their all, but the Hilltoppers prevailed. 

“Win. All I was thinking about is I wanted to win so bad,” Davis said about what went through her mind during the last 30 seconds. 

St. Mary’s proved to be a challenging rival, going 10-13 on free throws, along with 37 rebounds and nine steals. The Hilltoppers made 28 defensive rebounds, the majority of which were made by Kendall Beck, Kiana Bennett and Jae’La Hicks.

“Just really proud of our girls,” head coach J.J. Riehl ended the night with a smile. “I shouldn’t say girls, proud of our women. They showed a lot today and I’m really proud that they get to feel this moment.”

At this point in the Lone Star Conference the Hilltoppers were 6-8 and 12-10 overall. In the following six games to end the regular season, the Hilltoppers split it evenly, with three wins and three loses. They closed the season with another win over St. Mary’s, this time with a 42-41 final score. Their 9-11 conference record and 15-13 overall placed them in 10th place in Conference standings, two seeds below qualifying for the LSC Tournament.