Kansas Wesleyan women's coach Ryan Showman summed it up best in four words:
"They found a way," he said following the Coyotes' heart-stopping 80-77 Kansas Conference tournament quarterfinal victory over Saint Mary in front of a large, raucous and glo stick-waving crowd Thursday night inside Mabee Arena.
Top-seeded KWU (22-6) advances to the semifinals against fifth-seeded Friends at 7 p.m. Saturday in Mabee Arena. The Falcons (17-11) rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit and defeated Bethel 68-66 on Thursday in North Newton.
The Coyotes' game likewise hung in the balance until the end. Trailing 67-64 with 4½ minutes left they took control with a 10-2 run that gave them a 74-69 lead with 1:53 remaining.
The Spires, though, wouldn't go quietly. Five Alanis Delgado points including a long 3-pointer that banked in off the glass trimmed the KWU lead to 78-77 with 6.5 seconds left.
Saint Mary fouled Jill Stephens on the inbounds play, and she calmly made two free throws with 6.0 seconds remaining just as she had done 8.1 seconds earlier that gave the Coyotes a 78-74 advantage.
"There's a reason we design our plays to get her the ball," Showman said. "It's because she's so good in that situation."
The Spires missed a long and hurried 3-pointer at the other end but retained possession after the ball went out of bounds off the Coyotes with 0.6 seconds left. A desperation 3-pointer from the left baseline hit the side of the backboard as time expired.
The game featured 10 lead changes and 15 ties including 38-38 at halftime and 53-53 after three quarters.
Junior forward Hampton Williams wasn't surprised the game was close.
"We kind of like to live on the dangerous side," she said.
"It's the resiliency of this team, we just refuse to lose," Showman said. "We got just enough stops and made enough plays at the end."
Five Coyotes scored in double figures led by irrepressible senior point guard LaMyah Ricks with 16 points. Odessa Ozuna had 13, Williams 12 and a game-high 11 rebounds, Cat Bowman 11 points and Angel Lee 10.
"Any night can be anyone's night on our team," Williams said. "When we have five people in double figures it's super hard to guard. I feel that's kind of the secret to the sauce."
Delgado was the lone Spire in double figures finishing with 33 points that included five 3-pointers.
KWU shot 40 percent (24 of 60) including 8 of 29 from 3-point range and 29 of 34 at the free throw line. Saint Mary shot 39.7 percent, 9 of 22 from deep and 10 of 10 at the line.
The Spires grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the first half but only five in the second. They won the rebounding battle 39-37.
"We definitely talked about it at halftime," Williams said. "We talked about everything being ours and just having each other's back and making sure every ball was ours and seizing every opportunity."
Showman singled out the program's younger players for their contributions during the week.
"Some of our reserve players, some of our developmental team voluntarily came to practice and served as scout team Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday," he said. "They were the Saint Mary team for us to play against. They ran their plays, their actions and did a phenomenal job."
Williams and Showman gave kudos to the crowd.
"A big crowd is hard to play against," Williams said. "They're all rooting against you and if you're not skintight they will definitely get under your skin."
"Just having that support behind us was absolutely a big part of what we were doing on the court," Showman said.
Showman expects another tough battle Saturday. KWU won both games during the regular season.