FREMONT – Thursday night Olivia Baptista started out hot and never cooled down. The 5-foot-5 junior started the night with a nothing-but-net 3-pointer in the game’s first 10 seconds and she closed it with a program-record seventh bomb from long-distance in the Lady Giants’ 60-44 win over St. Ursula.
“During warm-ups I felt good, like ‘Ooh, this might be (good),’” Baptista said. “Then I just kept going and people kept passing it to me.”
She hit three at halftime then her fourth midway through the third quarter. Given her sister, Brooke, tied the program record with six three-pointers in the Lady Giants’ previous game this season against St. Ursula, the team and coaches began thinking about making a run at the record.
“I didn’t really know until the fourth quarter, really I don’t pay attention to how many points I have or anything, I just play,” Baptista said. “I think Brooke actually told me, she said, ‘Liv, you only need one or two more,’ and I was, ‘Oh, really?’ It’s cool that she did last time against them and I did it tonight.”
Entering the fourth quarter, a record was far from certain. She entered the fourth with four to her stat line, then hit the fifth early in the final period. With 5:30 remaining she tied the record with his her sixth of the night.
With less than 40 seconds to go, Rachel Gore brought the ball up court, drew two defenders to her and found an open Olivia Baptista at the top of the key where she ended the night the way she started it: With a swish.
“The last couple minutes I was scrambling. I was like, no one is getting this,” she said. “Then they set a screen and it went down. It’s crazy. It’s cool to be a part of history.”
She finished the night 7-of-12 from 3-point range and ended with 23 points to go with three steals and an assist.
Brooke Baptista finished with five assists while Jazmin Bulger added 11 points with four assists.
The win is Ross’ fourth in a row and improves the Lady Giants’ record to 13-6 overall with a 6-5 mark in the TRAC. The Lady Giants are back in action Monday at Oregon Clay.
For more details, visit the Ross Sports Report