Jackets Fall in Overtime Thriller, 103-100, to Allegheny Gators

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance and Allegheny combined for the most points ever scored in a Pro Rehab – Hubbard Co. Tournament game, exchanging 13 leads and 17 ties before the Gators escaped with the 103-100 victory. The loss marks the first opening-round defeat for DC in the history of the tournament.  

Defiance knocked down a season-high 52.2 percent of its shots from the field to reach triple-digit scoring for the first time since February, 2008, but it was not enough to outlast the Gators, who connected on 56.8 percent of their shots after halftime to post 71 points during the last 25 minutes.

After Defiance hit its first shot of the second period to claim an 18-point advantage, Allegheny hit 16 of its first 22 shots in the half to jump on top, 68-65, with just over nine minutes showing on the clock. Erica King, who led DC with 16 points and six rebounds in the second half, knocked down a clutch three-pointer at the 8:07 mark to put DC back up by one.

Allegheny's Heidi Goeller hit a free throw at the 7:48 mark that knotted the game at 70 points apiece and began an intense, back-and-forth, stretch of action that saw 11 ties and eight lead changes before the clock hit zero with the score knotted at 89-89.

The Yellow Jackets, playing in their first overtime game of the season, trailed by four with 1:30 left in the extra period before rallying to tie the game, 100-100, on a pair of Hannah Harshman free throws with thirty seconds remaining, but AC's Britni Mohney earned a trip to the charity stripe on the inbounds pass, and knocked down both free throws to put DC behind for good.

Tasha Stucke led the Yellow Jackets with a career-high 19 points on six-of-10 shooting to go along with five rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes of action.

DC will face one of the top NAIA Div. II schools in the nation tomorrow, when they tipoff against No. 16 Brescia University at 1:00 p.m.