DANVILLE, Ky. – Rhodes women's basketball outlasted Centre College in overtime on Sunday, 75-74 to clinch the Southern Athletic Association regular season title.
The Lynx advance to 21-3 on the season and 13-1 to wrap up conference play. The Colonels move to 16-9 and finish the regular season league play 10-4.
Rhodes got on the board first with a three pointer from
Sarah Johnson just 22 seconds into the contest, followed by another trey just 42 seconds later from
Natalie Goodrum to jump out to the early 6-0 lead. The Lynx worked to distance themselves from the Colonels, and pulled out to a 16 point lead after another Johnson three and a pair of baskets from
Lauren Avant and
Bailey Kramer to lead 22-6 with 12:18 to play in the half.
The Lynx pushed out to their largest lead of 18 after an Avant three made the count 36-18 at the 4:59 mark. The Colonels built a little momentum and went on a 7-4 run to end the half, trailing 40-27 to the Lynx at the halftime break.
Rhodes was led in the first half of action by Avant who netted 19 points. Johnson added nine, shooting two for three from beyond the arc. Paige Beachle led the Colonels with 11 at the break, with Maggie Hartlage chipping in five.
The Lynx held their opponents to 30.0 percent shooting from the field, and a mere 14.7 percent from beyond the three point arc. Rhodes fired a first half field goal percentage of 45.7 percent in the half, knocking down five three pointers.
Centre came out of the break with a new found passion, and scored the first five points of the half. The Colonels slowly chipped away at the Lynx lead, and whittled the deficit down to one by the 8:07 mark after an Alexis Guy three pointer made the count 55-54.
Just over a minute later, the Colonels took their first lead of the contest after a pair of Guy free throws gave them the 56-55 advantage with 6:34 to play. The Lynx couldn't shake the persistent Colonels, and watched Centre build its lead to four after a pair of made Beachle free throws. Johnson came to the rescue for the Lynx, knocking down a three with 1:27 to play to tie the game up at 62-62. That score would stand for the remainder of regulation, and send the contest into overtime.
Blaire Smith opened the extra period with a big three to grab the early 65-62 advantage. Rhodes held tight to its lead, and didn't relinquish the advantage, finishing out the contest, 75-74.
Avant finished the contest as the game's leading scorer with her 27 points, shooting 11 of 19 from the field. Avant also grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double. Johnson posted a season-high 20 points to go with six assists. Smith worked her way into double digit figures with 13 points.
The Colonels' Beachle scored 24 points with 19 rebounds for a double-double to lead Centre. Guy finished with 18 points, and Hartlage added 16 points.
The Lynx shot 43.1 percent from the field on the contest, hitting nine threes in the outing. Rhodes forced 18 turnovers which they turned into 19 points. The two squads were evenly matched in the paint, with each team putting up 14 points in the lane.
Rhodes will look ahead to hosting the SAA Women's Basketball Conference Tournament next weekend. The Tournament is set to start on Friday, Feb. 28 with the No. 1 seeded Lynx facing off against the No. 8 seed at 6 p.m.
