Nazareth forward Samantha Austin seldom shoots 3-pointers.
“I don’t know exactly, but like one a game, maybe,” Austin said. “Not many.”
Austin’s reticence isn’t because she has a red light. On the contrary, Nazareth coach Eddie Stritzel wishes she would shoot more.
Austin did that in the clutch on Jan. 28, draining the go-ahead 3-pointer from the left wing with 3:50 left in the fourth quarter. That triggered a decisive 8-0 run as the Roadrunners upset host Benet 44-37.
The Redwings (20-2, 8-1 East Suburban Catholic), who are ranked No. 1 in Illinois in the latest AP Class 4A poll, had won 20 consecutive games, including a 58-36 victory over the Roadrunners on Dec. 13 in La Grange Park.
“The coaches are always telling me to shoot, and in that moment, Stella (Sakalas) is really good at penetrating and kicking,” Austin said. “So I saw the opening and they weren’t guarding me very high, so I decided to shoot.
“I felt like I could make it. I was really happy.”
The 5-foot-11 Austin had attempted only one shot to that point. But she followed that 3-pointer, which gave Nazareth (21-3, 7-1) a 33-31 lead, with a defensive rebound that led to a give-and-go with junior guard Sophia Towne.
Austin finished that with a layup and freshman Mia Gage followed with a 3-pointer to make it 38-31. Benet’s Macy Menendez answered with a trey, but Towne, Sakalas and senior guard Molly Moore all sank two free throws in the final 19.3 seconds to ice it.
Sakalas, a BYU recruit, had a game-high 15 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists. She was thrilled to see Austin come through.
“Sam is such a good all-around player,” Sakalas said. “She’s not always present in the points, but Sam does everything for us and all of the unseen work.
“So to see her hit that big shot was so awesome. She’s been working on her shooting this whole year, and it was so good to see her hit that one and at that point in the game. It was huge.”
Austin, whose sister Olivia led the Roadrunners to the Class 3A state title in 2023 and now plays at Dartmouth, also was huge defensively and on the glass. Six of her game-high 10 rebounds were on the offensive end and she also had three steals and two blocks to go with her six points.
“That’s her, though,” Stritzel said. “She doesn’t ask for anything.
“She’s like, ‘What do you need, Coach?’ It’s defense, defense, defense, and she’s capable of scoring, but she won’t shoot.
“Then tonight she scored five points in that little run.”
Austin won’t alter her defense-first mentality, at least for now.
“I have a big defensive role because obviously we have such a good team offensively,” Austin said. “Defensively I’m in the center of the zone, so I watch the post.”
Stritzel is watching the Roadrunners continue to improve. They’ve won 11 straight.
“This win was really important for us,” Austin said. “We stuck together.
“We cleaned it up defensively. We’re getting a lot better and we’re improving with each practice, with each day.”