“We were telling them to stall it out or else make them foul us and we can go to the free throw line,” said head coach Larry Schwartz.
But after swinging the ball around and running some clock, senior Larissa Umberger caught a pass on the right wing with 1:20 left.
“I didn’t really think about it,” Umberger said. “I just caught it and felt it, so I shot it, and it went in. It felt right, so I went with it.”
What originally appeared to be an ill-advised shot, given the circumstances, was actually the nail in the coffin in the Bears’ 49-42 win.
“They left Larissa wide open and she just nailed a big shot,” Schwartz explained. “That was basically game over right there.”
Dolores trailed for most of the contest, but stayed within striking distance and made its move in the fourth quarter.
Aryelle Wright’s steal and breakaway layup with 3:30 left gave Dolores a 41-40 lead. Then, a bucket by Umberger and two free throws by Breanna Maxwell extended it to 45-40 before Umberger cemented the game with her three-pointer.
“It was a great battle,” Schwartz said. “The plan was to attack them early and get them in foul trouble. I told the girls all week that we’ve got to attack and they’ll start fouling us. I felt like, we’re quick and we could use our speed to our advantage, and the game plan paid off.”
Dolores focused its defense on Nucla senior Erin Staats, and while she finished with 19 points, the Bears never allowed her to get comfortable.
“It worked for stretches. There were a couples stretches where Staats got her points, but she’s a load to have to guard,” Schwartz continued.
“We were relying on Kitty Wallace, Bre Maxwell and Tatum Majors to take away Staats inside and then drop a guard down, and then keep pressure on the other guards when they rotated around.”
The Bears pressure was key, forcing turnovers and frustrating the Mustangs en route to a 49-42 win, moving Dolores to 3-2 on the season.
Umberger led the team with 15 points, Wright added 12, Nichole Kibel scored eight and Breanna Maxwell and Madi Archuleta each finished with five.
Dolores will next host Ignacio (3-2) on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 5:30 p.m.