As the last minute of the game wound down, the De Anza College Dons women’s basketball team was tied against the Mission College Saints 72-72 on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

With 24.1 seconds left on the clock, Mission called its last timeout to go over one final play. However, the play wasn’t executed properly and the ball was turned over to De Anza.

With the last seconds counting down, sophomore Chyna Cole tossed the ball to sophomore point guard Jordan Gipson. Taking a nanosecond for a quick breath, Gipson shot the ball from the three-point line.

Everything turned into slow motion as the ball soared through the air and the last few seconds ticked away.

The ball went in, the buzzer went off and the crowd erupted in cheers as Gipson’s teammates raced toward her and crushed her with hugs.

The Dons won their first game of conference play 75-72.

Gipson said she told Arden Kragalott, head coach of women’s basketball, to put her back into the game.

“I (knew) I could make the shot. But I didn’t really think I would get the ball,” Gipson said.

“I didn’t think about it … I just shot it.”

The Saints scored the first six points of the game, but the Dons kept up, with freshman forward Gabby Whetstone making the first shot for the home team.

Staying neck and neck, both teams were tied at 11 points reaching the 10-minute mark in the first half. A foul was called on freshman guard Lanyssa Fiaui, giving the Saints a free throw and putting them ahead 12-11.

The Dons shot back, with sophomore point guard Shayla McPhearson swishing a 3-pointer.

Gaining the lead, the Dons tried to stay ahead. Mission stayed strong though, meeting the Dons shot for shot and once again tying the score at 22-22.

Saints’ Sophomore Candace Stephens made a bucket and got the foul, giving her team the extra point it needed to regain the lead.

With five minutes left to go in the first half, the Saints led the Dons 31-26.

The Dons had the last possession of the first half, with McPhearson making the shot, and the Dons went into halftime trailing 38-37.

In the second half, the Saints stayed ahead. With 3:52 left on the clock in the second half, the Dons were behind 70-67.

Then came freshman forward Madison Michelis, scoring a bucket, getting the foul and making a free throw for the Dons. Once again the two teams were tied 70-70, with 2:13 left on the clock.

Saints’ sophomore guard Kady Meyn made the last shot for her team and the Saints led 72-70.

Both teams had turnovers and the game entered its final minute with the score unchanged.

But the Saints made a small error that ended up costing them the game.

Meyn fouled Gipson who made both her free throws and tied the score 72-72 with 36.8 seconds left on the clock.

Coming back after their final time-out, the Saints were unsuccessful in their last play and the Dons got possession of the ball.

As the clock wound down, the ball came into Gipson’s hands. Every person in the gym went haywire as Gipson shot the ball and it went in, hitting nothing but net.