IRVINE, Calif. - Rainah Smith hit a game-winning hook shot with 2.1 seconds left in overtime to lift the University of California, Merced women's basketball team to a 70-68 win over Westcliff University on Thursday night inside the Jordan Lawley Facility.

Smith was also fouled on the shot and sank the free throw to make it a two-point game. The Bobcats (13-7, 7-0), who trailed 68-67 before Smith's three-point play, then forced a Westcliff miss as time expired to win their seventh straight game and remain perfect in California Pacific Conference play.

Thursday night's game was the first Cal Pac game since 2009 in which an undefeated team met up with a one-loss team this late in the season and the showdown didn't disappoint. It ended up being the Bobcats first overtime game since February 9, 2019.

Smith's game-winner came out of a baseline out of bounds play. The Bobcats were given the right to inbound under their own basket after the officials signaled jump ball and possession to UC Merced. Mikayla Mabie fed Smith on the left block, then Smith went to work and converted through contact.

Before Smith's game-winner, the Bobcats had to beat the buzzer in regulation to even force overtime. Trailing 64-62 with two seconds left, Mikayla Mabie lobbed a sideline pass over the Warriors defense and Damilola Sule was there on the receiving end and scored the basket as time expired. 

Rewind the game further, the Bobcats had to overcome a 10-point deficit with five minutes left.

In a candidate for Cal Pac women's basketball game of the year, Haylee Owen scored a team-high 18 points and splashed four triples for the second straight contest. 

Smith finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. It marked her fourth double figure scoring effort in the last five games and it was her tenth of the season. With it, Smith passed Aubrey Hayes for seventh in program history with 37 career double figure scoring games. The San Francisco, Calif., native also moved ahead of Brittany Martinez for third all-time with 73 career starts.

Sule scored 15 points on 88% (7-8) shooting to go along with eight rebounds and a blocked shot. The freshman had eight points in the final three and a half minutes of regulation to lead the comeback efforts. Sule has been the closest thing to perfect this week, combining to hit 18 of 20 field goals in the last two games. 

Mikayla Mabie stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six assists, six rebounds, a steal and a block. Her six assists were a game-high. Mabie eclipsed the 80 assists mark on the year, enough to break through on the program's top ten single-season assists chart. 

Other individual notables include six points from Madison Hotchkiss, two blocks from Andrea Rogers, and a block from Deyliana Lewis.

UC Merced finished the night shooting 47% (27-58) from the floor and 40% (8-20) from beyond the arc. The 40% clip from downtown is the highest for the Bobcats in a Cal Pac game this season.

Head coach Sarah Hopkins-Chery's team tied its season-high with five blocks and outrebounded the opponent 36-27.

Making the win more impressive, the Bobcats only lead in regulation was 2-0 after a Smith basket to start the game. The Bobcats next lead wasn't until a Mabie layup at the start of overtime.

The Bobcats trailed by as many as 13 points after an 11-0 Westcliff run stretching over the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Up next, UC Merced closes out its longest Cal Pac road trip in program history (four games) at University of Saint Katherine on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff from the USK Sports Complex in San Marcos, Calif., is scheduled for 4:00pm.