Women's Basketball Survives Overtime Scare From Tennessee Wesleyan

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media
 
ATHENS, Tenn. – Six made free throws in the final 32 seconds of overtime led to 14 key points in the extra stanza as No. 23 Reinhardt outlasted Tennessee Wesleyan, 72-66, on the road over the Bulldogs after they came back from 16 points down in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles – who held steady in the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll earlier Wednesday – are now 15-2 overall and remain second in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) with a 12-2 mark.

"TWU is a tough place to play… It's loud, fans are right on top of you, they're extremely well-coached and the players are tough with a no-quit attitude," head coach Toby Wagoner said. "Heck, I feel like RU is tough place to play and our ladies are tough with a no-quit attitude. Add all this up and you have a heck of a basketball game. We certainly didn't expect to walk in there and walk out with a win; we knew it was going to be tough and earned. We have a tremendous amount of respect for TWU… No doubt, it was disappointing to let the lead slip away, but TWU did a really good job of getting stops, scoring, getting to the foul line and got hot – credit Coach Rice and his ladies.

"I feel like our ladies deserve a lot of credit as well, as it would have been really easy to put heads down, complain and point fingers; but that's not the character of this team. I thought both teams played with respect, played hard, and played both ugly and pretty at times. It was a fun game that gave us a bonus-basketball. It's a grind, but extremely happy to leave Tennessee with a win."

Amberlee Zeller was on fire from deep with four made treys and 7-for-12 from the floor en route to a team-high 20 points as one of four players in double-digit scoring on the evening. Bethany Headrick earned another double-double with 17 tallies and 13 rebounds, and was joined in the double-double club by Catherine Shope (14 points and 11 boards).

Not to be outdone, Symone Williams also hit double figures 10 points and eight rebounds.

The AAC clash saw six total ties, all by Tennessee Wesleyan, and none more important to the Bulldogs than a 3-pointer that tied the low-scoring affair at 58-58 with 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter to cap off a 22-13 stanza to send the game to a fifth period.

The game started off slow as both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket during the first 20 minutes of action. The scoreboard continued to move slow in the second quarter after both teams nearly mirrored each other's effort as the hosts held a slim advantage at the half, 25-24.

Reinhardt soared out of the locker room once again to the tune of a 21-11 spree to head to the fourth-and-final quarter ahead by nine. The Bulldogs wouldn't go away, however, as they flipped the script over the final 10 minutes – primarily thanks to 29 points from Jordan Wright. 

Each club scored a basket to start overtime as the game was tied once again, but free throws, fouls and offensive rebounds helped the Eagles balloon their lead to as high as eight points and put the contest to rest.

In the win, the hometown team shot 37.9 percent (25-of-66) and hit 16-for-21 from the free throw line.

Reinhardt goes for five victories in-a-row when it travels to take on the Koalas of Columbia (S.C.) on Saturday afternoon in a 2 p.m. tip.

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