MOBILE, Ala. – Spring Hill College erased a 13-point deficit with a 21-point fourth quarter to force overtime and defeat LeMoyne-Owen College, 80-78, on Monday, Jan. 14 at Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center. The win is the Badgers' third-straight, improving them to 4-2 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) women's basketball standings.
Tiffany Valentine recorded her second 30-point scoring performance of the season in the win, finishing with 33 points after scoring the winning basket for the Badgers.
Valentine took the ball out under the Badgers' basket, in-bounded it to
Esther Stokely in the corner, who dumped it down low to Valentine for the go-ahead basket, 80-78, with 3.7 seconds to play. LeMoyne-Owen used a time out to advance the ball in front of its bench. Dana Gettis tossed up an off-balanced shot from the left wing, contested by
Brandy Lee, but the jumper rimmed out at the buzzer to give Spring Hill the win.
Spring Hill led most of the first quarter, but LeMoyne-Owen answered a
Mathilde Nicolas 3-pointer with one by Averyale Joy to tie the game at 12-12 with two minutes to play in the opening quarter. Joy hit another and then a 3 by Dana Gettis to help give the Magic a 20-14 lead entering the second quarter. LeMoyne-Owen grew the lead to double digits, 24-14, and went into halftime with a 33-26 advantage.
In the third quarter, an and-one play by
Katie Krout pulled Spring Hill within a basket, 35-33, but the Badgers were unable to regain the lead. LeMoyne-Owen closed the third quarter with an 11-point lead, 61-50.
After giving up a Kaylin Downs layup to go down by 13 points to open the fourth quarter, Spring Hill out-scored the Magic 21-8 in the final 10 minutes of regulation. With 5:44 to play, the Badgers began a three-minute, 10-0 run that gave them their first lead since the second quarter, 68-67, on a Stokely 3-pointer. Gettis scored four-straight to push it to 71-68 Magic, but Valentine hit a 3-pointer with five seconds to play off a Stokely assist to send the game into overtime.
Valentine posted her sixth double-double of the season with 11 rebounds to go with her 33 points. Krout followed with 17 points, while Stokely and Nicolas each scored nine points.
Gettis led LeMoyne-Owen with 29 points and Lamontazia Blair posted 23 points. Joy finished with 11.
Spring Hill (8-7, 4-2 SIAC) will hit the road this weekend, traveling to Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio on Saturday for a 1 p.m. ET tipoff, followed by a stop in Frankfort, Kentucky on Monday at Kentucky State University.
