Box Score Wilberforce, OHÂ - In Saturday's game featuring schools separated by just 4.9 miles, Cedarville University edged Central State, 75-70 in overtime.
With both teams seeing their first action since Dec. 20, CSU and UC got off to slow starts offensively, shooting 26.7% and 32.1% respectively with the first field goal not coming until the 16:13 mark. With 2:35 remaining, the Lady Marauders found a burst of offense to claim a 27-21 lead and took a 32-28 lead into half. The CSU defense held the conference leading scorer Reagan Ryan to just 1 point in the first while CSU leading scorer
Iniquia Snell had 12 to lead all players.
The Lady Marauders continued to lead early in the 2nd as a 3 pointer by Snell gave CSU a 39-33 advantage at the 16:16 mark. Attempting to avoid an upset, Cedarville responded with a 10-0 run capped off by a 3 pointer from Abby Wolford and a layup from Kayla Linkous to claim a 42-39 lead with 14:06 left. Cedarville maintained a slim lead until a good field goal with 5:36 to go by
Amanda Pierce put CSU back up 58-57. Pierce went on to score the next 7 points for CSU as they extended their lead to 3 with 3:24 to go. After a 3 point play by Ryan on the other end to tie the game at 61-61, Snell came back to score in the paint to recapture the lead for her team. With a Cedarville layup and defensive stop on the other end, Wolford gave the Yellow Jackets a 65-63 advantage at the 1:18 mark. Snell answered again with another off balanced layup to tie the game again at 65-65.Â
With both teams coming up empty on their previous possessions, CSU had a chance to take the lead with 18 seconds left. The ball immediately went into the hands of Snell, who came up empty on a layup attempt.
Jasmine Cooper gave CSU another try with a offensive rebound but the Marauders turned the ball over to Cedarville with 8 seconds left. With a chance to win the game in regulation, Cedarville got out on a fast break and found a wide open Regina Hochstetler jetting to the basket. Fortunately for the Marauders, Hochstetler's layup rimmed out as the game went into extra time.
Central State's offense struggled in opening minutes of overtime scoring just 2 points on free throw attempts as Cedarville got out front by 7 with 39 seconds of play.
Bria Spaulding converted CSU's only field goal of extra time on a deep three to cut the Cedarville deficit to 74-70 with 26 seconds left, however CSU was unable to find any more offense as the team fell for the fourth straight game.
Despite the unfavorable result for the Marauders, Snell scored 20+ points for the 3rd game in a row, leading all scorers with 25 points along with 7 assists, 10 rebounds and 3 steals.
Kourtni Perry, a transfer from Wright State, had her best game in a CSU uniform with 18 points, 17 rebounds and 2 blocks. Pierce had her 4th double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Improving to 11-2 on the season and a 1-0 mark in the conference, Cedarville was led by 44 points from its bench compared to just 4 from CSU. Wolford accounted for 18 of those points with half coming from a 9-13 performance from the free throw line. Hochstetler came off the bench to score 10. Breanna Watterworth finished with 8 points and 9 rebounds, 4 coming in overtime.
The Lady Marauders continue G-MAC conference play on Thursday on the road against Alderson & Broaddus College at 5:30 pm.
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