Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Vanderbilt (NCAA Second Round)
Jacobs Does It Again!
March 24, 2003 | Women's Basketball
March 24, 2003
By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer
NORFOLK, Va. - Amber Jacobs drove the lane and threw up a shot, arching it high over 6-foot-6 Chantelle Anderson. Then she waited as the ball bounced around the rim.
"I knew it was in, even though it was bouncing around. I just had this feeling, 'That's in,"' Jacobs said Monday night after her shot fell with 2.5 seconds left in overtime, giving the Eagles an 86-85 comeback victory over Vanderbilt.
It's all happened before to Jacobs. Her jumper with 3.3 seconds left gave the Eagles a stunning 73-72 first-round victory over regional host Old Dominion.
"You can't think those last three seconds. It's all a blur to me," Jacobs said.
The fifth-seeded Eagles will be making their first appearance in the round of 16, and Jacobs thinks their run could just be starting, even with a likely matchup against No. 1 Connecticut next weekend.
"Our first-round loss in the BIG EAST tournament really kind of put us in a wake-up call that we're a better team than we showed," said Jacobs, who scored 25 points.
It took a while for the Eagles to get going Monday night. They trailed by as many as 13 in the second half but began a late rally.
The Eagles (22-8) finally pulled even on Clare Droesch's putback with 3:59 left, took the lead on Droesch's banked-in 3-pointer from 25 feet with 2:08 left and had a chance to win with eight-tenths of a second left.
But with the score tied at 74 and Becky Gottstein due two free throws, the Commodores burned two timeouts back-to-back before she missed the first, and Boston College called one before she missed the second.
Gottstein scored 24 points and had eight rebounds before she fouled out with 2:11 left in overtime. She sat with her head in her hands in disbelief before Jacobs spared her an agonizing memory from her last game.
"I just can't say enough about this team and just how awesome everybody rallied together," the fifth-year senior said. "And I just can't say enough about Amber being our little savior again."
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"I knew it was in, even though it was bouncing around. I just had this feeling."
Guard Amber Jacobs
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When Jacobs made her drive, Anderson had four fouls and couldn't make a concerted attempt at blocking the shot for fear of fouling out.
"There's nothing you can think in those split couple of seconds except, 'Please don't go in,"' said Anderson, who had 28 points and two blocks.
Earlier, when Gottstein's second free throw bounced out, the Commodores couldn't help but think that things were going their way.
"We were like, 'Hey, we got a second chance. Let's make the most of it,"' Anderson said. "I think we got a lot of energy from that."
In overtime, Droesch's 3-pointer, a jumper that fell as she was falling down and a free throw by Brooke Queenan were matched by Anderson's four points and two free throws by Jenni Benningfield - her 25th and 26th points, but first since 15:33 remained in regulation.
Two free throws by Jacobs gave the Eagles the lead, Anderson's basket inside tied it, Jessalyn Deveny's baseline 18-footer gave it back to the Eagles and Hager's fifth 3-pointer set up the dramatic conclusion.
"We just needed to get one stop and we struggled all night to get that one stop," first-year Commodores coach Melanie Balcomb said.
Vanderbilt appeared on its way to victory when it opened a 57-46 lead with 11:23 to go, but Jacobs scored 14 of Boston College's next 21 points, and Droesch pulled them even at 67 with a putback with 3:59 left.
Ashley McElhiney's second 3-pointer, and first since the opening 90 seconds, gave Vanderbilt the lead back, but Deveny's baseline jumper and Droesch's banked-in 25-footer gave the Eagles a 72-71 edge.
After Anderson made one of two free throws, Gottstein's basket from underneath with 1:17 left pushed the Eagles' lead to 74-71, but Hager hit her fourth 3-pointer from the left wing to tie it with a minute left.
