If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again.
That's the philosophy Lindsay Druery took into the final 1.9 seconds of the Lakehead Thunderwolves women's basketball game Saturday night against the Western Mustangs.
Fouled trying to make the game-winning shot, Druery went to the line with the chance to salt a second straight second-half win away.
But the fifth-year forward was long on her first shot and came up short on her second.
Game over, right?
Not a chance.
Teammate Lacey McNulty, who grabbed 16 boards on the night, captured the biggest one of the night off the second miss, fired up a quick shot that rattled off the rim and into the hands of Druery, who banked it home from under the net, the buzzer beater giving the Wolves (6-4) an improbable 64-63 triumph.
"It was a tough 1.9 seconds," said Druery, who finished with a game-high 19 points. "I don't know. I guess I just froze under pressure a little bit. I was a little shaky the last four minutes of the game and I knew that. I just did my best to keep composed and it didn't work.
"But luckily my teammate helped me out and it worked out in the end."
Druery said she knew she had to find a way to get in position to get the ball in her hands, even though there was precious little time to do so.
"I knew that I missed the rebound and I saw (Lacey) chuck the shot up, a one-handed shot there and I just went to the basket and I was lucky enough that I was wide open. I just went up with it as quick as I could and hoped that the clock didn't run out."
As it sailed through the mesh, LU coach Jon Kreiner jumped as high as he has since his university playing days ended, joking afterward that he could actually dunk at one time.
Kreiner said he took McNulty aside midway through the game, trying to get her out of the funk she was in, her four turnovers tied for the most on the Wolves.
"She wasn't playing real well. We had a little chat at the end of the bench about how much we needed her to be successful if we were going to win this game," Kreiner said. "And she changed the momentum. They were up by five at the time, 35-30, when she came out ... That play was the result of Lacey's hustle, throwing it up trying to score and getting the quick tap back by Lindsay."
The basket crushed the hopes of the Mustangs, who had taken a 63-62 lead on Jenny Vaughan's turnaround jumper with 16.9 seconds to go.
It was a back-and-forth contest from the start, though for most of the first half it was Western holding the edge, using an 8-0 second-quarter run to close out the half with a 29-26 lead. The Mustangs maintained their edge throughout much of the third, but couldn't stretch it past five, allowing the Wolves eventually to pick away and ultimately pull ahead.
Kelsey Bardsley started the comeback, burying a three, then after a turnover, McNulty grabbed an offensive board and tied the score 39-39. She completed the 7-0 run with another basket, and after an Ayse Kalkan hoop, the Wolves took a 43-41 lead into the final quarter.
McNulty stretched the lead to seven four minutes into the fourth, but the Mustangs kept pressing. Laura Dally, arguably Western's best player who sat out Friday's loss with the flu, hit a three to cut the gap in half, then Vaughan hit a pair of free throws to give Western the lead once again.
But trailing by four with a minute to go, Kalkan pulled the Wolves to within a basket on a nice feed from McNulty and Carolyn Fragale set the Thunderdome crowd on its feet, nailing a three to put LU ahead with 25 seconds to play.
The Wolves hit the road next weekend, taking on the Laurier Golden Hawks.
Beyond the arc: Dreury's 16-point performance moved her into 10th place all-time on the LU scoring list, with 1,431 points.
