Lady Blues work overtime to push back Lions
Feb. 4, 2006
TOPEKA - The No. 1 Washburn needed an extra five minutes of playing time to put away Missouri Southern as the Lady Blues topped the Lions 66-64 in overtime in Lee Arena. With the win, Washburn improved to 22-0 and 11-0 in the MIAA. Washburn will travel to Pittsburg State on Wednesday to take on the Gorillas at 5:30 p.m. in John Lance Arena.
The Lady Blues opened the game cold as did the Lions with both teams combining for 15 field goals as Washburn was 7 of 31 from the field and the Lions were 8 of 25 from the field. The Lady Blues did not hit their first field goal of the game until the 12:42 mark of the game on a 3-pointer by Jessica Aebi, which cut the Lions lead to 8-7. Both teams had leads as many as six in the first half as the Lady Blues took a 26-24 lead into the break.
In the second half, Washburn still was struggling from the field hitting 11 of 30 from the field, but they were 0 of 12 from 3-point land, and the Lions hit none of their five attempts, but still shot 56 percent from the field. Washburn held a second half lead of nine at 52-43 with 7:02 remaining, but Southern rallied to cut the lead to one at 55-54 on a Darcie Reutlinger free throw. Jennifer Harris hit 1 of 2 free throws to give Washburn a 56-54 lead, but Nicole Greninger hit a jumper in the lane to knot the score with 1 second remaining.
In the overtime, Jennifer Harris' 3-pointer with 4:26 remaining gave Washburn a 59-58 lead. With the 3, Harris went over the 1,000 point mark for her career. After another Harris jumper, Washburn led 61-58, but Southern came back and tied t at 61 on a 3-pointer by Marina Caran with 3:33 remaining.
Southern took the lead at 62-61 on a Dana-Mae Robbs free throw with 2:53 remaining, but on the next possession, Brooke Ubelaker hit a baseline jumper to put the Lady Blues up 63-62 with 2:27 left.
Robbs hit a pair of free throws to give the Lions a 64-63 lead with 2:03 left, but it would be their last lead as Harris hit a jumper in the lane with 29 seconds remaining to push Washburn to a 65-64 advantage. Southern's Robbs missed a jumper and collected the rebound, but Cindy Keeley picked up a steal and hit her first free throw with 5 seconds left and Megan Sullivan grabbed the carom on the second and Washburn ran out the clock.
Harris led Washburn with 28 points - seven coming in the overtime period and 13 in the second half - pushing her career total to 1,007, becoming only the second two-year transfer in Washburn history to go over the 1,000 point mark. She is the 19th overall to accomplish the feat and the second this season behind Ubelaker who went over 1,000 points in Las Vegas.
Sullivan had her second career Washburn double double with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Ubelaker had 13 points.
Robbs led Southern with 25 points collecting a double double of her own with 13 rebounds.
Washburn shot a season-low 32 percent for the game. There were 10 lead changes and five ties in the game.
The Lady Blues will look for its 42nd straight win in Pittsburg, which will tie the NCAA Division II record for the second longest streak all-time.