ARKADELPHIA – An extra 10 minutes was needed to determine a victor on Thursday night inside a packed Bill Vining Arena in the first Ouachita vs. Henderson State women's basketball rivalry game of the season with the Reddies coming out on top 94-92 in double overtime.
There were a combined total of 13 lead changes and 16 tied scores throughout the game with Ouachita's largest lead at five multiple times and Henderson's at nine with 26 seconds remaining in the second period.
HSU (11-6, 7-4 GAC) ended up with an eight-point lead at halftime before Ouachita (7-8, 5-6 GAC) came out with a 21-point performance in the third period to force a 52-all tie heading into the fourth. The Tigers took a lead on a
Joey Babel jumper with 8:51 remaining and held that lead for most of the fourth period. Ouachita's
Madeleine Tipton nailed a pair of free throws with 31 seconds in the fourth to finalize the regulation scoring at 65-all.
The Tigers again led for the majority of the first overtime period, including up by five with 16 seconds remaining on a layup from
Abbey Harrison. The Reddies rallied and used a three-pointer at the buzzer to force a second overtime with the game tied up at 84.
The story was similar in the second overtime with the Tigers holding the lead most of the way, including a five-point edge on a jumper by
Laney Mears with 1:38 remaining. The Reddies got a three-pointer with 32 seconds remaining to force the game's 16th tie score and then following a Ouachita turnover, used a layup in the final seconds to seal the win. Ouachita's last-second attempt was not as lucky as HSU's at the end of the first overtime period.
Five Tigers reached double-digits in scoring, led by
Madeleine Tipton with 18 points.
Samantha Watson followed with career highs in points (17) and rebounds (eight).
Audri Winfrey finished with a career-high 14 points to go along with six boards.
Grayson Fairless added 13 points and eight boards.
Laney Mears ended up 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Tigers are on the road this Saturday, January 27 to take on Harding for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff in Searcy.
