In a fourth quarter that had its fair share of fouls and free throws, it was only fitting that it all came down to the foul line. With 7.5 seconds left and a two-point lead, Meredith Nigh stepped up to the line and sank both of her free throws to seal the victory over Delta 45-41.

Nigh led all scorers with 14 points with Corrine Bird finishing with 13 of her own. Perhaps the most impressive all-around effort came from Alexis Bird who also had 13 points with 10 rebounds and four steals against the visiting Rabbits.

Tooele started out strong with a strong defensive effort, frustrating Delta to begin the game. Corrine Bird finished off the quarter on 6-0 run of her own with three straight lay-ups, two of which came off of offensive rebounds.

Delta came out in the second quarter more determined to pressure the Tooele dribbling and it worked, forcing bad passes and turnovers. With the pressure Delta was able to tie the game with a lay up and foul shot by McKenzie Peterson, erasing a seven point deficit to tie the game at 14-14.

"They came out strong and tried pressing our guard toward the sidelines and forcing bad passes from us," said Tooele coach Karie Frederickson. "I told them to have confidence in their dribbling abilities and to use the middle of the court when they press us."

Tooele was able to counter by being more aggressive and getting to the foul line which enabled them to own a three point 20-17 lead at the half.

The Lady Buffs came out strong at half with a 6-2 run, lead by Corrine Bird's two strong post moves that built a seven point lead halfway through the third quarter. After a Delta time-out the Rabbits started looking and nailing shots from outside the three-point line to gain a one-point lead heading into the final quarter.

With both teams playing more aggressive in the final quarter and the referees calling a lot more fouls in the second half that seemed to be ignored in the first half there were plenty of foul shots to go around for both teams.

Tooele regained the lead behind four straight points from Alexis Bird. The Lady Buffs eventually built a comfortable eight-point lead after an offensive rebound and put back with less than a minute left in the game.

Down eight, Delta didn't give up as they fired in two three-pointers and a lay-up in three consecutive possessions, which their last three-point shot by Shanel Bliss brought the game within two points.

That's when Delta fouled Nigh hoping that she would at least miss one but they weren't that lucky as Nigh calmly nailed both free throws to ice the game as Tooele won its third consecutive victory.

"Alexis Bird was huge in this game, dominating the boards and causing problems for them on defense and disrupting their offense," said Frederickson. "With three straight wins our confidence is awesome and it gives us great momentum heading into Christmas break."

The Lady Buffs (3-2) next play at Uintah on Friday with their next home game not coming until mid-January.

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com