Murphy's career night not enough as women's basketball drops another heartbreaker

The Spartans led by as many as 11 in the second half and a had a chance to win the game on the final shot of the night, but in the end the MiraCosta College women's basketball team came up just short in a 72-71 defeat at the hands of Southwestern College.

Colleen Murphy, a freshman from Fallbrook, California, led the way for MiraCosta with a career-best 25 points, and had a chance to win the game for the Spartans in the final seconds, but saw her shot from the elbow hit off the left side of the rim.

With the loss, MiraCosta fell to 6-10 overall on the season and lost for the second time this year to Southwestern (8-8) by a combined total of only two points. The Spartans fell to the Jaguars by one in November, and came out on the winning end of their second matchup of the year by 15 points.

Murphy connected on a layup to put MiraCosta ahead 62-57 with just over four minutes remaining in the game, but a 3-pointer by Southwestern's Breanna Morales a few moments later made it a two-point game.

Murphy then scored again to get the margin back to two points at 64-62, and a jumper by Danielle Bosley made it 67-64 with 1:45 on the clock. However, the Jaguars refused to give in, and tied the game at 69 with 59.1 seconds to go after a pair of free throw's by Morales.

A layup at the 22-second mark by Micayela Hernandez then made it 71-69 in favor of Southwestern before Bosley answered with a pair of clutch shots from the charity stripe with 11.8 seconds to play. Hernandez then stuck the final blow to MiraCosta, going 1-for-2 from the free throw line to give Southwestern the one-point margin.

With 6.2 seconds left, MiraCosta called a timeout and drew up a play from the sideline. The ball ultimately ended up in the hands of Murphy at the elbow as time experied with her shot in the air.

The game featured a battle between the two team's primary post players as Murphy went head-to-head with Southwestern's Shatiana Daniels, who exploded for 27 points. Murphy scored the first six points of the game for MiraCosta and had eight of her team's 14 at the end of the first quarter, while Daniels scored her team's first 10 points and accounted for 14 of Southwestern's 16 after the first 10 minutes.

Teya Searles added 15 points for MiraCosta, and Ayli Tulberg chipped in with 13. For Southwestern, Hernandez added 19 points and Morales finished with 10.

Next up, MiraCosta heads to San Diego City College on Friday, Jan. 13, at 5 p.m. for more Pacific Coast Athletic Conference cross-divisional action.