HENDERSON — In the Mid-South Conference opener, the No. 6 Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions and the No. 25 Georgetown College Tigers lived up to the hype. In a contest that featured 14 ties and 19 lead changes, it was a last-second shot that was the difference in the Lady Lion victory, 76-74.
The guests got off and running fast by bucketing five points before
Brooklyn Crouch's free throw put the Lady Lions (16-0, 1-0 MSC) on the board. A set of
Lilly Kee layups knotted the game 5-5 before neither team could establish a lead of more than two points.
Alaina Stiles and
Jenna Satterly had back-to-back makes to give FHU a lead before the Tigers answered to end the first frame with Georgetown leading 18-16.
It was all
Ally Weathers at the start of the second quarter with the freshman netting back-to-back three-pointers and a pair of free throws. In the middle of the half, the Tigers (15-2, 0-1 MSC) put together an eight-point run to take the largest lead either team would have in the game at six points.
Rachel Satterly's triple cut into that lead before Kee and Crouch scored the last six points of the half for the Lady Lions to hold a 39-38 lead at intermission.
Georgetown jumped to a five-point edge before J. Satterly hit a couple of 3-pointers with R. Satterly chipping in with layups. It was R. Satterly's triple with 23 seconds to go that gave the Lady Lions a 59-58 lead; however, GC had a last-second layup to take a 60-59 lead into the final frame.
Freed-Hardeman never held a lead in the fourth quarter, trailing by as many as five points with 5:07 to go in the game. Weathers tacked on a layup and a set of free throws before R. Satterly hit a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game 72-72 with 3:17 left. Georgetown answered with a basket before Kee again scored the equalizer with under a minute to play. On their way down the floor, the Tiger possession ended with an out of bounds turnover to give FHU the potential game-winner with 26 seconds. Crouch needed 23 of those seconds as she maneuvered into the paint to put up a floater and score the game-winner. Georgetown had a last-moment 3-point opportunity to win the game, but Crouch's basket proved the difference in the 76-74 victory.
Despite the Tigers leading most of the statistical categories, it was FHU's shooting from long-range that proved most effective. The Lady Lions were 9-17 from beyond the arc while Georgetown went 7-24.
Lilly Kee secured at least 20 points in three out of FHU's last four games with her 22 points leading the Lady Lions.
Rachel Satterly and
Ally Weathers followed with 15 points each while
Jenna Satterly added 10 points.
Up Next
The MSC gauntlet continues as the Lady Lions host the No. 12 University of the Cumberlands Patriots on January 10 at 1:00 p.m.
