Eagles net double-OT victory
It was all the big time college basketball anyone could want to see as the Florida Gulf Coast University women defeated George Washington 97-94 in a double-overtime thriller Thursday night at Alico Arena.
“It was an amazing game,” said FGCU coach Karl Smesko. “There were so many plays made by both teams. If we made a mistake they would capitalize. If it looked like they had something on us, we would make a play. It was just a tremendous game to be a part of.”
For most of the first half, the three-point shot that helped the Eagles get to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament deserted them. They found themselves trailing by as much as 10 points to the much larger Colonials. The Eagles never gave up on the three-point shot. Thanks to a last-second three by Chelsea Lyles, the Eagles led at halftime 37-36.
The Eagles went on a nine-point run in the second half, behind a pair of threes by Brittany Brown (21 points) and one by Kelsey Jacobson (18 points).
Brown and Jacobson led the Eagles’ long-range surge, but it couldn’t keep the Colonials at bay.
With 17 seconds left in regulation, the Eagles led by four, but failed to convert any free throw attempts to seal the game, allowing the Colonials to sent it into overtime.
The same scenario played itself out in the first overtime. The Eagles led by four with 10 seconds to go, but again missed free throws down the stretch as GW’s Yolanda Lavender and Jessica Adair hit back-to-back layups to force a second overtime.
This time, the Eagles would not be denied. Led by Brown and Jacobson, the Eagles converted all four of their free throw attempts in the final 10 seconds to seal the victory at a sold-out Alico Arena.
The Eagles (26-4) advance to play in Tampa at 7 p.m. Saturday in a second-round WNIT game against South Florida (22-10).