The basketball bounced off the rim, hung in the air and finally dropped through the cylinder giving the Sacramento State women a hard-fought overtime victory over the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, 68-67.

The game-winning shot was put up by a driving Kim Sheehy with less than two seconds left to play in overtime. Sheehy, feeling the weight of the game on her shoulders after failing to attempt a field goal at the end of regulation, wanted to take the final shot to decide the outcome of Saturday’s match-up.

“I got yelled at for not taking the shot on the first possession, so I was like, ‘I gotta take this one,’ ” Sheehy said. “So I just prayed when it hit the rim. I was like, ‘Go in, please.’ It found its way.”

Head coach Dan Muscatell had plenty to yell about at the end of regulation. His team had just executed the worst offense of the night and it came in the game’s final minute. With the game tied 59-59, the Hornets had 32 seconds left on the game-shot and 30 seconds on the play clock. Thirty seconds later and the Hornets were called for a shot-clock violation. Not one Hornet made a shot attempt with the clock ticking down.

The Hornets shot 8 of 29 from the field in the first half. Shooting improved in the second half, but going 6 of 7 from the free-throw line is what kept the Hornets in the game. Sac State finished the game 11 of 15 from the line.

Stephanie Cherry led both teams in scoring with 22, three shy of her career high. Cherry also had a game-high five steals and a team-high four assists in 40 minutes of play. Sheehy finished the game with 16 points and four steals. Forward Ashley Cadotte may have had an off-night shooting, going 2 of 12, but that didn’t stop her from cleaning up the boards and finishing with a game-high 14 rebounds, 11 of which came on the offensive end.

After the thriller at the Hornets Nest, the team will travel to Lubbock, Texas, to take on No. 16-ranked Texas Tech Lady Raiders at the United Spirit Arena on Dec. 1.

Armando Botello II can be reached at [email protected]