GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The No. 11-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team defeated Aquinas College in overtime, 61-58, Wednesday evening in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) action inside the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center.
Reigning WHAC Player of the Week
Emma Wolfe had a game-high 17 points and three rebounds while
Erika Foy had a career-high 13 points off the bench in 26 minutes of action.
Rachel Bell chipped in nine points, five rebounds and four assists while
Alexis Hill had seven points and nine rebounds.
The Saints started off the game on a 12-2 run and held the Warriors to just 0-8 from the field over the first 6:52 of the contest. Foy hit the first field goal of the game for Tech at the 3:08 mark, but it wasn't enough to get the offense going as Aquinas led 16-8 at the end of the quarter.
The Warriors found their grove right away in the second as Wolfe hit went on an 8-0 run by herself over the first minute and a half while Bell hit the next two shots for Tech to give the visitors a 12-0 run in all. Aquinas didn't score until the 5:00 mark of the period and came back to tie the game up at 20-20 with 4:04 to play in the first half, but the Orange and Black outscored the Saints 7-2 over the final two and a half minutes of the quarter, including a buzzer-beating shot from
DeAnn Kauffman, to give the visitors a 27-22 lead at the break.
Tech held the lead for the first half of the third quarter and extended its lead to as many as seven points, but the Saints came back with a 7-1 spurt over the last 2:20 of the period to head into the fourth leading 41-37.
The fourth quarter start was déjà vu for the Warriors as the team went on an 8-0 run to begin the period and regaining the lead at 45-41 with 7:43 to play in regulation. The two teams traded leads down the stretch and neither side led by more than a single possession after the 7:22 mark. The game was deadlocked at 52-51 from the 3:37 mark until five seconds left on the clock a both sides combined to go 0-9 from the floor and commit three turnovers. A free throw from Kauffman with five seconds left put the Warriors up 53-51, but the Saints Jaylynn Williams hit a shot with two seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
A 6-0 run put the Warriors ahead 59-55 with 53 seconds left in the extra session as they held Aquinas to just 1-9 shooting through the first four minutes of overtime. Williams brought the hosts to within a point with a triple and 28 seconds left on the clock while Wolfe sank a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left to go and a game-tying shot from the Saints was off the mark as Tech came away with the hard-fought victory.
Tech (13-4, 7-1 WHAC) returns to action Saturday as they travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a matchup with Concordia University. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. from Concordia Gymnasium.
