East Carolina University
North Dakota State
Women's Basketball Wins Double Overtime Thriller
December 02, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2006
East Carolina 73, North Dakota State 70 (2OT) (PDF)
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - A pair of LaCoya Terry free throws with 3.1 seconds to play in double overtime gave East Carolina the three point win, as the Lady Pirates held off North Dakota State 73-70 in the opening round of the Lady Pirate Invitational Saturday afternoon at Minges Coliseum. With the win, the Lady Pirates are now 3-4 on the year and advance to the championship of the Lady Pirate Invitational where they will face Florida State. The Seminoles defeated Fairfield 69-54 in the first game of the afternoon.
After a quick Bison three-pointer to open the game, the Lady Pirates went on a 10-0 run, and giving them the 10-3 lead with 17:28 on the clock. North Dakota State responded, putting together their own 9-0 run, reclaiming the lead, 11-10 on a pair of free throws by Katie Dahlen with 14:03 to play in the half. A Terry three-point play with 11:31 remaining in the opening stanza knotted the game at 13 apiece, but back to back baskets by the Bison gave them the 17-13 lead. Cherie Mills layup with 6:41 to play tied the game at 17-17 and a Terry steal and fast break layup put the Lady Pirates back on top, 19-17. A Gabriela Husarova 10 foot jumper with 4:57 to play increased ECU's lead to five, but a Megan Shea basket cut the lead down to three. Young's put back with 3:20 on the clock put the Lady Pirates up 29-23. The Bison cut the ECU lead to two, 29-27, with a minute and a half remaining in the first half, but a pair of Nicole Days free throws put the Lady Pirates back up by four with under a minute to play. A Terry basket with under ten seconds to play in the half increased the ECU lead to four, but a Bison basket at the buzzer made the halftime score 33-31 in favor of ECU.
Terry led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, adding three steals. Lisa Bue led the Bison with nine points. She also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds while Days had a team-high four rebounds for ECU. The Lady Pirates shot just 37.1 percent in the first half while NDSU shot 43.3. The Bison out rebounded ECU 26-15, but committed 13 turnovers.
The Lady Pirates opened the second half scoring six unanswered points, extending their lead to eight at 39-31, with 18:17 remaining on the clock. A Mills layup from Terry with 13:33 gave the Lady Pirates their largest lead of the game, 13, at 47-34. A trey by Katie Dahlen with 10:37 on the clock ended a five minute scoring drought for the Bison, making the score 49-37. Emily Moran hit two free throws with 8:37 to play in the game to pull the Bison to within 10, at 51-41. A three-pointer by Katie Dahlen on the next possession cut the lead to seven, 51-44. Mills ended a two minute scoring drought for the Lady Pirates, with her lay up extending ECU's lead to 53-46 with 6:29 on the clock. Back to back baskets by the Bison cut the lead to three, 53-50, with 5:35 remaining. Danni Heintzlemann's free throw with 1:53 to play cut the ECU lead to three, 58-55. Brenda Slyt's three-pointer with 1:13 to play tied the game at 58-58. The Lady Pirates had two shots to win the game in the final seconds, but both fell short, sending the game to overtime.
The Lady Pirates scored first in the overtime period, as Mills connected on a pair of free throws with 4:06 on the clock. Katie Dahlen's basket with 3:38 knotted the game at 60. Terry's free throws with 2:28 remaining put East Carolina back on top, 62-60. After a Jerri Penley free throw to cut the lead to one, it was Terry's lay up that put ECU up three, 64-61 with under two minutes to play. Kayla Dahlen's three with 30.2 seconds to play tied the game at 64-64, sending the game to double-overtime.
Once again, it was ECU scoring first in the second overtime period, as Mills hit both free throws. A Slyt jumper as the shot clock expired knotted the game again, 66-66 with 4:14 to play. Mills connected on one free throw with 3:10 remaining, putting ECU up 67-66, while a Young lay up with 2:36 on the clock increased the Lady Pirates lead to three, 69-66. Kayla Dahlen's lay up on the next possession cut the ECU lead to one, 69-68. A Young five foot jumper with 26.2 seconds on the clock gave the Lady Pirates the three point, 71-68 lead. The Bison cut it to one on a Slyt put back with 3.7 seconds. Terry's free throws with 3.1 seconds sealed the game, giving ECU the 73-70 win.
Terry led all scorers with a career-high 23 points, including a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. She also added four assists and four steals in the win. Mills and Young also finished in double figures for the Lady Pirates, scoring 19 and 14 points, respectively. Slyt led the Bison with 20 points while Bue tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double.
The win marks the first ever double overtime win for East Carolina and is the first time since Feb. 20, 2004 that the Lady Pirates have played a double overtime game. ECU has now advanced to the finals of the Lady Pirate Invitational in each of the five years of the tournament. The Lady Pirates have won two titles, winning the inaugural year and again last season.
The Lady Pirates return to action on Sunday, Dec. 3 as they will face Florida State in the Lady Pirate Invitational Championship game at 3:00 p.m. Fairfield and North Dakota State will play in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m.
