Women's hoops fall in overtime; five-game winning streak snapped

Women's hoops fall in overtime; five-game winning streak snapped: The Wayne State women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss Saturday, Jan. 5, as the 24th-ranked Findlay Oilers snapped the Warriors' five-game winning streak with a 90-84 overtime victory. Talisha Bridges hit a jumper to force overtime with five seconds remaining to force OT, but the Oilers pulled away in the extra period to come away with a road victory.

"That was definitely a heartbreaker," said Warriors head coach Carrie Lohr. "I will say that I thought that we definitely showed some character."

Going up against Findlay's full-court pressure and zone defense, the Warriors held a 13-10 lead eight minutes into the game. The two teams played each other close for most of the first half, as the game was tied at 26 with 4:45 remaining in the opening half. But the Oilers went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes to take a double-digit advantage.

Looking for a spark, Deanna Crumpton provided just that for the Warriors off of the bench. Her seven points and blocked shot got WSU back into the game, making it a three-point contest, 36-33, at the half.

After trading scores to open the second half, Findlay extended its lead to 10 points, 56-46, with a 10-2 run.

The Oilers still led by double-digits - building their lead to as many as 13 - at the 10:41 mark. But the Warriors went on an 8-0 run that made it a one-score game.

Findlay held on to a slim lead until there was 4:25 left in the game, when a Juanita Cochran layup gave the Warriors their first lead since they led 13-10 midway through the first half.

Cochran played a big role in WSU's comeback, giving the Warriors multiple opportunities on the offensive end with eight offensive rebounds.

The Oilers regained the lead and were on top 75-73 with the ball and 45 seconds remaining in the game.

WSU played defense for 24 seconds when an attempted three-pointer by Findlay missed. Cochran grabbed the rebound and gave the ball up to Bridges, who raced down court and found Crumpton for a mid-range shot attempt. Crumpton's shot missed, but Bridges snagged one of WSU's offensive rebounds. With nine seconds left, Lohr called a timeout.

In-bounding the ball under their own basket, the Warriors got the ball to Bridges and let her take over.

Bridges corralled the ball around half-court, dribbled to her right, stopped at the free-throw line, popped and sank the game-tying bucket with five seconds left.

"(The play) was designed for her, it wasn't designed for her to catch it that high, not exactly in that spot," Lohr said. "But she's a good player and good players make plays and she executed."

The Oilers' last-second heave from half-court missed the mark and the game headed to overtime.

In the extra frame, the two teams played to a 78-78 tie with 3:14 to go. Findlay took a one-point lead on a free-throw and never relinquished the lead. Despite their best effort, turnovers, foul trouble and the Findlay attack proved to be too much for the Warriors, as Findlay held on for the win.

"We had our chances," Lohr said. "But we can't look back. We definitely showed some life and showed that we can come back and that's good to know. That says a lot about our team.

"We gotta keep our heads up [because] we got a lot of basketball to play."

Bridges tallied a season-high 25 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists. Cochran recorded a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Crumpton finished with 15 points and four rebounds.

The Warriors continue its homestand with an 8 p.m. matchup with Northwood on Jan. 8.