Lady Evangels Take Down USAO, 63-62, In Dramatic OT Win

Parris Price sank two free throws to send the game into overtime as the Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels overcame a late four-point deficit and pulled out a dramatic 63-62 overtime victory against the USAO Lady Drovers to snap a six-game losing skid Saturday afternoon (Feb. 16) in Chickasha, Okla. The win pulls the Lady Evangels into a tie for eighth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference with St. Gregory's with identical 4-10 conference records.

The Lady Evangels (13-12, 4-10 SAC) trailed by four following a layup from Krista Ford that punctuated an 11-0 run that put the Drovers in front 56-52 after Kourtni Williams had given the Lady Evangels their biggest lead of the game of seven five minutes earlier.

Williams quickly hit a three to make it a one-point game and after one free throw by Paige Pulliam put the Drovers up two, Price stepped to the charity stripe and hit two clutch free throws to force the extra session.

Once in overtime, a jumper by Williams put the Lady Evangels in front for good and a trey from April Williams extended the lead to 63-59 at the 1:32 mark.

After a three-point play by Lauren Campo brought the Drovers to within one, the Lady Evangels relied on their defense to close out the win.

MACU turned the ball over twice and missed a free-throw, but forced the Drovers into missing their last five shot attempts over the final 28 seconds, including a potential game-winning three by Campo as time expired.

The Lady Evangels fell into an early seven point hole when eight straight points from Ford put the Drovers up 14-7 at the 13:54 mark of the first half.

Consecutive threes by Emilie Schirmer and April Williams and a layup by Price capped a 8-0 spurt that gave the Lady Evangels their first lead of the game at 18-16.

Sarah Martin then burst out and hit three treys to fuel a 10-4 run that gave the Lady Evangels a six-point edge and MACU carried a 28-26 lead at the break.

After scoring only three points and shooting only 1-of-3 in the opening half, Williams picked it up and scored 13 on 5-of-10 from the field in the second to finish with 16 points and keep her double-figure scoring streak alive. Williams has scored in double-digits every game so far this season. Martin had a game-high 19 points on 6-of-10 overall from the floor and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. She also dished out a team-best three assists and Price added 10 points.

Ford led the Drovers (10-16, 1-13 SAC) with 19 points and Pulliam chipped in with 11. Tashina Ototivo pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Lady Evangels overcame a 51-37 deficit overall on the boards, but forced 20 turnovers.

Next up the Lady Evangels will celebrate Senior Night in their home finale against John Brown University Thursday evening (Feb. 21) at 6 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.