RENO - Yvonne Hollett has gone through a disappointing senior season at the offensive end of the floor.
She made up for it in a big way Tuesday, scoring all 12 of her points in the second half to spark Carson to a 56-52 upset of Bishop Manogue on Tuesday night in a Sierra League girls game.
"It was a big win." Carson coach Todd Ackerman said. "We played well last Friday and played with a lot of intensity. We played with a lot of intensity tonight. We didn't shoot free throws down the stretch, which could have made things easier."
Carson improved to 6-3, while Manogue dropped to 7-2.
In the end, it was Hollet's play in the third quarter and a clutch 3-pointer by Elayna Shine that put the Senators over the top.
"I was talking to my parents a couple of days ago and they said I needed to shoot more," said Hollett, who came out of the game early in the fourth quarter with a sprained ankle. "The last game, I think I only took four or five shots. This time I decided to shoot more."
"She finally had a good, strong night," Ackerman said.
Hollett caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 10 points. With Manogue ahead 33-32 and 5 minutes, 26 seconds left, she scored on two consecutive hard drives to the basket to give the Senators a 36-33 lead. Manogue tied the game at 36 on a 3-pointer by Gabbi Concepcion.
Carson stretched the lead to 45-40 after three, as Hollett drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Eight seconds into the fourth quarter she scored again on a layup to make it 47-40, but appeared to land on the foot of a Manogue player and went down writhing in pain.
Manogue cut the deficit to 49-48 with 2:23 left on two buckets by Kelly Lujan and a 3-pointer by Alex Luckadoo. Neither team scored on its next possession, setting the stage for Shine, who finished with a team-leading 14 points.
After the Miners' Katie Gray missed the front end of a one-and-one, Carson tried to work some time off the clock. Shine got an open look at the top of the key and drained the shot with 1:43 remaining to give Carson a 52-48 lead. Three free throws by Gina Bianchi and one by Shine upped the Senators' lead to 56-50 with 8.4 remaining.
"That was a big 3," Ackerman said. "Honestly in that situation I'd rather run a little more clock. Usually when you hesitate like she did, you don't make the shot."