HONOLULU – Mariah Szymanski drove for a layup with 0.3 seconds to play to lead Sioux Falls to a 79-77 victory over Hawai'i Pacific University in the 2019 Malika Sports Tours Oahu Thanksgiving Classic at The Shark Tank Wednesday evening.
 
The No. 23 Sharks (4-1) held a nine-point lead in the third quarter, only to see the No. 19 Cougars (6-0) go on a 14-1 run to take the lead.
 
The game featured 12 ties and nine lead changes and saw the contest tied twice in the last two minutes, including 4.7 seconds to play when senior Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt buried a 3-pointer to tie the game at 77-all. After a timeout to advance the ball, USF in bounded to Szymanski who hesitated, then drove through three collapsing defenders to score the winning layup.
 
Rivera led the Sharks off the bench with 21 points to go with four assists and four rebounds, while sophomore Abby Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic double-doubled with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary added 11 points for the Sharks.
 
The Cougars got 27 points from Kaely Hummel, with 15 points from Szymanski and Anna Goodhope who also had six rebounds. Jacey Huinker led USF with seven rebounds.
 
After shooting well in the first half, HPU made only 9-of-28 shots in the second half and finished the game at 39 percent (24-of-62), including 10-of-22 (46 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks hit 19-of-25 from the foul line (76 percent). USF shot 43 percent for the contest (26-of-60), including 10-of-31 (32 percent) from the arc. The Cougars were 17-of-30 (57 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
HPU was in control during the first half, opening up a nine-point 31-22 lead on a Rivera layup with 8:32 to play in the second quarter. The Sharks saw the Cougars cut the lead to one, but responded to take a 47-41 lead into halftime after a jumper from freshman Maja Leidefors of Jonkoping, Sweden in the closing seconds.
 
The Sharks got into early foul trouble and that extended into the third quarter. After leading scorer junior Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion hit her third 3-pointer to give her nine points in the game at the 8:32 mark, she picked up her fourth foul 21 seconds later. The free throws keyed a 12-0 run that gave the Cougars the lead they never gave up, ending on a 3-pointer by Szymanski for a 54-50 lead with 6:02 left in the third. HPU rallied back to tie the contest at 58-all with a Rivera layup with 2:48 in the third. But Marcucci had come back into the contest and was tagged with her fifth foul the next time down the floor and fouled out with 2:21 left in the quarter. HPU came back to tie the score at 59 on free throws by Leidefors, but a Goodhope jumper with 16 seconds left gave USF the 61-59 lead at the quarter break.
 
The Cougars hit a pair of 3's to build a 67-61 lead before sophomore Ally Bates of Melbourne, Australia/Yarra Valley picked up her fifth foul and was disqualified with 7:18 remaining. USF built a 10-point 72-62 lead on a Hummel triple with 5:45 left. That's when the Sharks took matters into their own hands. Starting with a Baum layup, the Sharks went on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 72-72 on a Noblett layup with 2:08 to play. Hummel answered with a 3-pointer for a 75-72 advantage and the Cougars got one of two free throws from Augusta Thramer with 29 seconds left to lead 76-72.
 
The Cougars fouled Noblett who hit both tosses, then HPU fouled Hummel who hit one to give USF the 77-74 lead with 13.7 to play. HPU called timeout to advance the ball then found an open Rivera on the right wing for a triple to tie the game at 77-77 with 4.7 left. That's when the Cougars got the last second heroics from Szymanski.
 
The 23rd ranked Sharks have a couple of days break before closing the Malika Sports Tours Oahu Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday afternoon against No. 14 UC San Diego. Tipoff is 2 p.m. at The Shark Tank.