Shreveport- The Centenary women's basketball team would not be denied on Tuesday night as the Ladies earned a gritty 61-59 overtime win over the University of St. Thomas Celts in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play inside the Gold Dome.
The Ladies (2-17, 1-10 SCAC) snapped a 13-game losing streak as they won for the first time since defeating Hendrix College on Nov. 25. The Celts fell to 5-15 overall and 3-8 in league play with the loss.
Centenary led 18-10 after the first quarter but St. Thomas responded with a 17-12 advantage in the second quarter to trail the Ladies 30-27 at halftime. The Celts then outscored the Ladies 17-13 in the third period to take a 44-43 lead into the fourth quarter. Centenary edged St. Thomas 13-12 in the fourth to knot the game at 56-56 and send it to overtime, where the Ladies outscored the Celts in a low-scoring extra period, 5-3.
The Ladies shot just 31.3 % (21-67) from the floor for the game and only 2-22 (9.1 %) from beyond the arc, but were solid from the free throw line, sinking 17-22 attempts for 77.3 %. The Celts finished 23-67 from the floor (34.3 %), 20.7 % (6-29) from 3-point range, and 36.8 % (7-19) from the FT line. The Ladies outrebounded the Celts 53-48, grabbing a season-high number of rebounds – two more than their 51 at Dallas on Dec. 2.
Centenary finished with eight assists, six steals, four blocked shots while St. Thomas tallied 14 assists, eight steals, and one block. The Ladies turned the ball over 18 times which they turned into 15 points while the Celts committed 19 turnovers which they turned into 15 points. Centenary edged St. Thomas 30-28 in the battle of points in the paint, the Ladies finished with a 12-8 edge in fast break points and 23-14 advantage in second-chance points. The Celts scored 18 bench points and the Ladies scored 17.
Sophomore F Kyra Stokes (Shreveport, La.) had a monster game for the Ladies as she tied her career high with 19 points and added a career-high 15 rebounds. She scored in double figures for the seventh time this season and notched her third double-digit rebounding performance and first double-double. She played 41 minutes and was 5-10 from the floor and 9-10 at the FT line with four blocked shots and an assist.
Sophomore G Amiyah Barrow (Baton Rouge, La.) scored 17 points in 40 minutes on 7-13 shooting with seven rebounds, three steals, and one assist. She was 2-4 from the FT line and 1-3 from beyond the arc and reached double figures for the 13th time this season. Sophomore G Madison Davis (Shreveport, La.) scored eight, sophomore G TaNyjah Plumber (Kinder, La.) added seven, sophomore F Layla Powell (Fort Worth, Texas) scored six, and senior F Amelia Bagwell (West Monroe, La.) chipped in four.
Davis was 3-10 from the floor and 2-2 at the FT line in 43 minutes with for rebounds, an assist, and a steal and Plumber played 39 minutes and was 2-2 at the FT line with a trey, six boards, and assist, and a steal. Powell was 2-2 at the FT line with a season-best 10 rebounds and one assist in 32 minutes and Bagwell was 2-2 from the floor in her 16 minutes with three rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Nia McGee led St. Thomas with 19 points and 15 rebounds, matching Stokes, and was 8-15 from the floor in 45 minutes with three assists and a steal while making 2-5 attempts from the beyond the arc and finished 1-5 at the FT line. Ravyn Ellis scored nine points in 19 minutes off the bench, Hayden Morin and Audrey Hernandez each scored eight points, Macie Whitfield and Kareena Aragon each scored six, and Ce'Briaya Bell had three.
Centenary started fast, taking leads of 6-0, 8-1, and 14-5 in the first 10 minutes, but their 18-10 lead after a quarter was gone by the 4:39 mark of the second quarter following a McGee layup to give the Celts a 21-20 lead. A 10-6 run over the final four minutes, though, enabled the Ladies to take a 30-27 lead at the half.
The Ladies held a lead throughout the majority of the third quarter until a trey by Audrey Hernandez gave the Celts a 42-4 lead with 1:26 left in the period. A Hernandez layup made it 44-41 St. Thomas with 53 seconds left and a pair of free throws by Davis cut the Ladies' deficit to 44-43 five seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Celts led by six, 51-45, with 5:49 remaining in the fourth quarter but a quick 7-0 run capped by a Barrow layup at the 4:07 mark gave the Ladies a 52-51 lead. McGee's 3-pointer put the Celts ahead 54-52 and a layup by Whitfield stretched UST's lead to 56-52 at the 1:49 mark. Davis made a layup with just 44 seconds left to make it a 56-54 game and each team called a timeout. McGee turned the ball over with 21 seconds left and Stokes grabbed a missed jumper by Plumber and fed Davis who made a layup with four seconds left to tie the game at 56-56. The Celts called a timeout and Aragon missed a potential game-winning layup at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
McGee made a layup four seconds into OT to make it a 58-56 game and no one scored until Stokes sank a pair of free throws to tie the game at 58-58 with 3:15 remaining. McGee went 1-2 at the FT line to give the Celts a 59-58 lead with 2:17 left. Barrow's jumper at the 1:48 mark made it 60-59 Centenary and Barrow went 1-2 at the FT line with six seconds remaining to make it 61-59. Hayden Morin missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Ladies stormed the court in celebration.
The Ladies will hit the road to face the Colorado College Tigers on Friday in a SCAC contest set for 7:30 p.m. (6:30 PM local time) in Colorado Springs, Colo.
See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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