By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athltic Director for Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A jam-packed Eblen Center crowd went on an emotional roller-coaster ride Saturday night, enduring two gut-clenching overtime periods before the Belmont women's basketball team escaped with an 80-79 Ohio Valley Conference road victory over Tennessee Tech.
The game included a host of "gasp" plays including a 3-pointer by Samaria Howard with 0.6 seconds left in the first overtime to force a second overtime.
The eventual game-winning point came when Darby Maggard hit a jumper with eight seconds to play. Howard got the inbounds pass and was racing downcourt ahead of the defense for what could have been a game-winning layup but the officials stopped play to reset the game clock.
Tech was forced to start in the backcourt, and got the ball to Howard for an 10-foot jumper that just missed.
Tech slipped to 7-16 overall and 3-7 in OVC play, while Belmont survived to go 14-7 overall and 6-2 in the conference.
Yaktavia Hickson led all scorers with a career-high 23 points for the Golden Eagles, going 8-for-15 from the field including 3-for-3 from long distance. Howard finished with 21 points along with six rebounds and four assists. Hannah Goolsby also reached double digits with 11 points.
Belmont had four players in double figures, topped by Maggard's 20 featuring 6-for-17 shooting from long range. Kylee Smith added 18 points and eight rebounds, Sierra Jones scored 12 with six boards, and Jenny Roy finished with 10 and five boards.
Belmont had a 62-40 advantage in rebounds, with Sally McCabe pulling down 12 and Frankie Jourban getting 10.
The two teams waged a defensive standoff through the first period, forcing missed shots and few second chances. Belmont had total ownership of the glass with a 17-3 rebounding advantage, but the Golden Eagle defense responded by halting the Bruins when they did capture an offensive carom.
At the close of the first period, Tech had kept the Bruins to 31 percent shooting (6-for-19) including a stretch of nine consecutive misses. The teams were tied at 17-17 after the first quarter.
Belmont crept out to a slim four-point lead, 27-23, midway in the second period, aided by a 3-pointer by Darby Maggard. The lead grew to as many as 10 points when Roy's layup made it 36-36 with 44 seconds left, before Hannah Goolsby dropped in a 3-pointer with one second to go for a 36-29 halftime score.
The lead was still 10 for the Bruins, 46-36, halfway through the third period when Tech put together a 10-0 run to tie the game. Hickson has six points in the run, then drained a 3-pointer to vault the Golden Eagles into a 49-46 lead. A layup by Howard just before the buzzer made it a 51-48 Tech lead after three periods.
Tech's three-point lead disappeared on a 3-pointer by Jones wih five minutes to play, and Maggard's triple right after put the Bruins up, 56-55.
The fourth quarter included three more ties, including the 10th deadlock of the night at 60-60.
Roy made one free throw with 1:21 to play to tie the game, and neither team scored after that. Howard missed a jumper with 13 seconds left and Maggard missed with one second to play.
Belmont led by four in the first overtime, but a jumper by Mariah Dean brought Tech back to a 64-64 tie. Basket by Goolsby made it a two-point Tech lead before Smith drained a 3-pointer with 53 seconds for a one-point Belmont edge. The lead went to three on a pair of free throws from McCabe, before Howard's 3-pointer from the top of the key elevated the crowd and sent the contest onward into the night with another five minutes on the clock.
The Golden Eagles were up by four twice in the second extra session, the second at 75-71 with 2:07 to go but four straight free throws by the Bruins tied the game with 1:07 left.
Howard's two free throws pushed Tech ahead, 77-75, but Maggard stepped to the arc and hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds for a 78-77 lead.
Tech again took the lead with 31 seconds left on a jumper by Howar, before Maggard scored the eventual game-winner.
The next two contests for the Golden Eagles are on the road, with a visit to Jacksonville State next Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest followed by a Feb. 10 game at Tennessee State.
The next home game in Eblen Center is Feb. 13, when Jacksonville State contest to town for an OVC doubleheader.
