MONTICELLO, Arkansas – The Ouachita women's basketball team claimed a postseason berth on Saturday afternoon with an 84-83 overtime road victory over Arkansas-Monticello.
The Tigers (11-15, 9-13 GAC) have earned the No. 7 seed for the Great American Conference Championship Tournament, which will be played March 7-10 at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Ouachita opens up against No. 2 seed Harding on Thursday, March 7 at 2:15 p.m.
UAM (8-20, 4-18 GAC) led for just over 39 minutes of Saturday's game, but the Tigers came on strong down the stretch with a 10-1 run in the final three minutes of the fourth period to take a two-point lead with 43 seconds remaining on a three-pointer from
Madeleine Tipton. The Blossoms made a layup with 11 seconds remaining to force overtime.
The Blossoms scored the first five points of overtime before going scoreless for a period of three minutes, which allowed Ouachita to take a four-point lead on a pair of free throws from
Laney Mears with 10 seconds remaining. The Blossoms made a three-pointer at the buzzer, but the Tiger cushion was enough to absorb the blow and still earn the win.
Laney Mears led all scorers with 23 points. She and
Madeleine Tipton each made five three-pointers in the win. Tipton finished with 20 points.
Grayson Fairless recorded a double-double of 19 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. It was her third double-double of the season and seventh of her career. She had season-highs in nearly every category.
Joey Babel came close to a double-double in a different way with 10 points and a career-high eight assists.
