Two games, two buzzer-beating 3-pointers. Oh, and they both banked in.
Just 24 hours after Kendra Welch hit a halfcourt heave to defeat state-ranked Laquey, Danielle Pounds played the role of last-second hero Tuesday against Seymour. Pounds banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key – her only points of the game – as time expired to lift the Houston Lady Tigers to an exciting 57-54 victory.
“I told Danielle she must have been jealous of Kendra,” Lady Tigers coach Brent Kell joked. “It’s crazy, but they practice that shot. They’ll go out there and throw a few up from halfcourt after practice.”
Welch hit five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 16 points. Sophomore Erica Keeney added 15.
On Monday, Welch’s toss from halfcourt gave Houston a 69-66 win at Laquey. Kell said it was easily the biggest win of the season for the reeling Lady Tigers (12-13), who had dropped their previous four games. Laquey was 22-1 and ranked seventh in Class 2.
Trailing 66-63, Laquey tied it with a 3-pointer with about five seconds remaining. Kell elected not to call timeout. It proved to be the right move.
Welch took the inbound pass, weaved through a couple defenders and released a prayer about one step past halfcourt that banked in.
“As soon as she let it go, I got a feeling over myself that it was good,” Kell said. “For the way our season has gone, it’s about time.”
It was the fourth 3-pointer of the final quarter for Welch, who scored 12 of her 16 points in the last eight minutes. Keeney scored nine points, and Holly Thomas, Sarah Pierce and Pounds scored eight each.
Box scores
Tuesday night
Seymour 11 12 16 15 – 54
Houston 9 13 19 15 – 57
SEYMOUR – Sanders 0 0-1 0. Coday 6 7-11 22. Massengale 1 1-2 3. LLansdown 5 2-2 13. Stundefant 2 0-0 4. KLansdown 1 0-0 3. Nichols 1 0-0 3. Hodge 2 2-2 6. Totals 18 12-18 54.
HOUSTON – Moore 1 0-0 3. Pounds 1 0-0 3. Welch 5 1-1 16. MKell 1 0-0 2. Thomas 2 5-7 9. Pierce 2 5-5 9. Keeney 7 1-2 15. Totals 19 12-15 57.
3-pointers: Seymour 6 (Coday 3, LLansdown, KLansdown, Nichols); Houston 7 (Welch 5, Moore, Pounds).
Monday night
Houston 12 8 13 16 – 49
Laquey 6 15 11 14 – 46
HOUSTON – Pounds 2 3-6 8. Welch 6 0-4 16. Thomas 4 0-4 8. Pierce 3 2-4 8. Keeney 4 1-2 9. Totals 19 6-20 49.
LAQUEY – Coward 5 2-4 12. Gan 1 0-0 2. Murray 3 0-0 8. Brock 7 4-10 18. Miller 2 2-4 6. Totals 18 8-18 46.
3-pointers: Houston 5 (Welch 4, Pounds); Laquey 2 (Murray 2).