AURORA, Ill. – The Edgewood College women's basketball team turned in a fantastic defensive effort against Aurora University, but two late Spartan free throws sent the game to overtime and Aurora prevailed 56-51. The Eagles led or were tied for all but 16 seconds in the final 28 minutes of regulation play.
Edgewood College's Rachel Pope broke a 33-33 tie with a short jumper in the paint for the last made field goal in regulation and the Eagles seemed like they had enough defense to hang on. Allison Gordon sank two free throws with 3:17 to go for a 37-34 lead. After two Aurora University (11-8, 10-4 NACC) free throws by Anna Roszkowski, the Eagles Sierra Jiran made one of two for a 38-36 Eagles lead. Gordon came up big on the next Spartan possession, swatting away a shot by Roszkowski as she drove for the tying bucket with 1:01 to go.
However, the Edgewood College (5-14, 4-10 NACC) didn't manage to get a quality shot on their trip and Aurora had the final possession with 19 seconds to play. With five seconds to play, it appeared the Eagles' Zoey Dougherty had swiped the ball from Aurora's Mallory Cast, but the officials whistled Dougherty for the foul and Cast tied the game with two free throws. The Eagles called timeout and advanced the inbounds position to the front court, but Pope's three-pointer from the left wing caromed off the rim.
In the overtime period, the Eagles and Spartans traded the lead five times. The Eagles appeared to be in trouble, down 47-44 when Jazmin Little buried her first three-pointer of the game from the right wing to tie the game for the seventh time. However, after that play Aurora converted nine of their last 10 free throw attempts while the Eagles only managed two layups by Pope and a pair of turnovers.
After Aurora took an 11-9 lead to open the second period, Edgewood College answered with their biggest run of the day. Marissa Hoyer scored three straight baskets inside, one on an offensive rebound and put back, to start an 11-0 run. Gordon added a basket of her own, before Pope sealed the spurt with a three-pointer from the right corner. The Spartans scored the final five points of the first half, but the Eagles led 20-16 at the break.
Senior Dougherty led the Eagles with a career-high 13 points, while Pope scored 12 points and played 44 of the game's 45 minutes. Gordon chipped in nine points and six rebounds. Jiran pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds. The Eagles shot 30.6 percent from the field.
Aurora University received 20 points from Bethany Dorrington, 14 from Roszkowski and 13 from Cast. The Spartans didn't shoot much better than the Eagles at 34 percent, but went 3-for-3 in overtime and 17-for-22 from the free throw line.
Edgewood College's next game will be back in the Edgedome on Tuesday night against MSOE. The Eagles and the Raiders will tip it up at 7:00 p.m.
