SHERMAN, Texas – The Southwestern University Pirates women's basketball team and Austin College Kanagroos exchanged last-second heroics with the Pirates pulling away in double overtime for a 69-67 road victory.
Zhazze Brown led three Pirates in double figures, scoring 17 points with five rebounds and a team-high three assists and three steals as Southwestern withstood a 19-point, 15-rebound double-double from SCAC Player of the Week Bryce Frank to hand Austin College its first conference loss.
Forward Noel Pratts got the Pirates going early, scoring seven of her 13 points in the first quarter, shooting 3-for-6 with a made 3-pointer in the first seven minutes of the game to push the Pirates to a 14-11 lead.
Southwestern University locked in defensively in the second quarter, limiting Austin College to just seven points on 3-for-15 shooting. The Pirates swarmed Frank, limiting Austin College's star player to 1-for-3 shooting with two turnovers in the quarter while Southwestern got eight of their 12 points off the bench; getting valuable minutes from Ifeoma Mbue, Kelsey Faykus, and Naomi Brown to take a 26-18 lead at halftime.
Brown broke through for the Pirates in the third quarter, scoring seven points on three shots, hitting her lone 3-point attempt of the quarter and both free throws to help Southwestern outscore Austin College 14-12 in the quarter, taking a 40-30 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Austin College stormed back with a 21-point fourth quarter, getting a monster performance from Frank with 10 points in the quarter on 5-for-6 shooting. Cecily Woolfolk responded with six of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, shooting 2-for-3 in the fourth and 4-for-8 for the game with eight rebounds.
Playing through foul trouble, Woolfolk's fourth quarter play appeared to be enough to hold Austin College at bay until the Pirates made a crucial mistake, fouling Austin College's Ann Savage on a 3-pointer at the buzzer with a 51-48 lead. Savage hit all three free throws to send the game into the first overtime.
Brown and Woolkfolk combined to score eight of the Pirates' nine points in overtime, with Brown scoring the final five points, including a game-tying jumper with a second remaining to tie the game and send it to a second overtime.
Tori Carraway scored four points on 2-for-3 shooting in the second overtime, getting the game-winning layup on an assist from Brown with five seconds remaining.
With the victory, the Pirates improve to 5-9 on the season with a 4-1 record in conference, matching Austin College and Trinity University in the conference standings. Austin College drops to 11-3. The Pirates will continue their road trip with a game against Dallas tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.
