LEBANON, Tenn. - The No. 9 Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions overcame a 16 point second half deficit in a 56-54 win at Cumberland University on Saturday afternoon.

Cumberland led 34-23 at halftime, then extended its lead to 41-25 with just over 17:00 to play. But FHU, who had been plagued by cold shooting, outscored the Lady Bulldogs 22-6 to tie the game at 47-47 on a layup by Whitney Johnson with 6:02 left in the game.

CU answered five quick points to go ahead 52-47, a score that would hold for nearly three minutes until a Meribeth Boehler putback trigger a 6-0 Lady Lion run that gave them a 53-52 lead with 1:08 left. After a Tranisha Benton basket allowed Cumberland to retake the lead, Johnson was fouled with :26 left and made both ends of a 1-and-1 to put FHU ahead for good.

The dramatics were hardly over, though. Johnson rebounded a Chaqualia Gaten miss and was fouled, but missed the backside of the bonus to give the Lady Bulldogs a chance to tie on a three-pointer. Gaten's final shot was, however, off the mark.

Johnson led FHU with 14 points while Chelsie Alsup added 12. FHU overcame a rough afternoon from three-point range as the Lady Lions went just 2-of-15 beyond the arc.

FHU improves to 7-4 overall and 1-1 in conference with the win. The Lady Lions return to Smith-Kirk Court on Monday for the first time in nearly a month, where they will host No. 6 Lambuth (Tenn.) University at 6:00 PM.