Lady Blues hold off Truman in double overtime

The Bulldogs took No. 13 Washburn into two overtimes but they came up just short in the end, falling 97-94 to the Lady Blues as the Lady Blues' Juwanna Rivers scored 10 of her career-high 28 points over the two overtime sessions as Washburn reached the 20-win plateau for the third time during head coach Ron McHenry's four-year tenure as the Lady Blues' head coach.

Rivers won the game for her team, taking over the contest in the second extra period. She scored six points in the second overtime, including the final four points of the game. Truman led by five early in the final period and still led 94-93 with a minute remaining. Rivers, however, converted on a layup with 36 seconds left to give the Lady Blues the lead. Following a Bulldog turnover, Rivers hit two free throws to push the lead to three and a last second three-point attempt by Truman was off the mark.

Washburn led almost the entire time in regulation. The team opened up a 13-point lead early in the first-half after a 12-0 run gave them a 30-17 advantage. The Bulldogs were able to cut into the deficit and only trailed 41-35 at the break.

The Lady Blues appeared comfortably ahead with a ten-point lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the game. Truman fought back though and took the lead at 78-76 when Adri Tromp hit a jumper with the shot clock going off with 46 seconds left in the game. Following two Washburn misses, the Bulldogs got the rebound and hit one-of-two free throws to make it a three-point lead. Rivers tied the game after getting a three-point play with a layup and free throw after being fouled. Washburn knocked the ball out of bounds with one second left and Truman's final shot was no good.

In the first overtime, both teams went scoreless for the first two minutes. Truman took the lead three times, but every time the Lady Blues would come back down and tie it. The Bulldogs once again had the final shot, but saw their attempt blocked with two seconds remaining.

Truman outrebounded the Lady Blues by a 36-29 margin and both teams turned the ball over 23 times. Washburn shot 51 percent from the field while the Bulldogs were 46.2 percent. Both teams spent much of the game at the free throw line as 77 free throws were shot in the contest. Truman and Washburn were both around 80 percent from the charity stripe.

Truman got a great effort from Sarah Sommer and its three seniors. Sommer had a game-high 35 points and just missed a double-double with nine boards. Tromp added 16 points and six rebounds. Lisa Miceli played 31 minutes due to Truman's foul troubles in the post. She responded with a career-high nine points and eight rebounds. Turnbull had 11 points, including two big three-pointers early in the second overtime.

Rivers ended the game with 28 for Washburn, 10 of which came in overtime. Carla Sintra added 20 points and Lora Westling had 18. Montoya Whitfield was the leading rebounder with seven.