A tough game between the Banyans and Bruins led to an overtime thriller, but the Bruins were able to pull it together for five more minutes to defeat the Banyans 79-76. Junior, guard Annie Miller led the way with 23 points while also going a perfect 11-11 on her free throws.

Catherine Skebo opened the scoring for either team with a three-pointer at the 7:40 mark. Shea Dickinson hit back-to-back threes for the Bruins to take the early lead with 5:20 to play in the first. With a late night the day before, the Bruins started getting some of their bench players in to help. After the first ten minutes, the Bruins had a 21-16 lead over the Mighty Banyans.

To start things off in the second quarter, Julia Weigle hit a three-point shot to extend the Bruins lead. After several minutes without scoring, the Banyans were able to pull back to within three points making it 24-21 Bruins. After some rest, Catherine Skebo, Shea Dickinson, and Katrina Tabora were put back in to help get the Bruins back up. Within a couple minutes, the Bruins had nearly retaken a 10 point lead. When the buzzer rang for the half, the Bruins had a 38-27 lead.

The Bruins came out of the half with a couple of bounce passes which led to Bria Dickinson getting a layup with the and one. The next few possessions went back and forth, but the Bruins had one with the shot clock expiring. Annie Miller threw up a desperation three ball, but was fouled on the play and went to the line where she hit all three of them. At the end of the third quarter, the Bruins held their lead 57-51.

The fourth quarter started off a little slow, but the Bruins cracked 60 points with seven minutes left to play. At the 6:20 mark, the Banyans had taken the lead from the Bruins making it 62-61. The lead change sparked a surge in the Banyans defense which led to several turnovers and a scoring run to put the Banyans up 68-61. The Bruins needed to stop the momentum and put in five fresh players. With less than two to play, the Bruins had retaken the lead cracking 70 points off a three-pointer from Annie Miller. Seventy points wouldn't be enough to get it done as the Mighty Banyans tied it up as time expired.

The Bruins and Mighty Banyans hit overtime and Anna Layne Wylder hit a three to give the Bruins the lead. A back-and-forth battle in overtime led to a 75-75 score before Annie Miller was fouled and made her two free throws. With seconds left, Annie Miller was fouled again and drained two more free throws. With only seconds left following Miller's final free throws, the Banyans had little chance to make up the points. A failed attempt by the Banyans as time expired and the Bruins walked away from the scare 79-76 in overtime.

"I think our team played well today," said Head Coach Mike LeViere. "We played a really good first half and New College of Florida hit some really good shots making it hard to guard. We had a stretch at the end where we struggled offensively and couldn't bring ourselves out of the funk, but we were able to pull it together and finish out in overtime."

Up next, the Bruins have another home game coming up Tuesday against Warren Wilson. The Bruins and Owls are scheduled for 7:00 p.m.



 


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