WISE - - Sixth-year senior Kalee Johnson netted 21 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, dished out four assists, blocked three shots and tallied a pair of steals as UVA Wise scored a pivotal South Atlantic Conference victory with a 75-72 overtime triumph of Lenoir-Rhyne inside the Prior Center Wednesday.
BEARS START STRONG
Lenoir-Rhyne opened the game on an 11-to-2 scoring run as Brandi Hudson netted eight points in the opening 10 minutes. UVA Wise would be forced to call a timeout and the hosts would trim the lead to four by the end of the period only to see the Bears run the lead back to nine by the six minute mark of the second quarter.
HALF ENDING FLURRY
Trailing 24-15 with 6:06 to play in the half, the Cavs closed the half with a 14-to-6 scoring flurry to get the game within a point at intermission. During the run, UVA Wise used the play of freshman forward Katlin Burger to close the gap. Burger netted six points over the stretch including an offensive put-back at the buzzer to send the team to the locker room with momentum.
SURGING TO THE FRONT
A Makenzie King 3-pointer with 7:26 to play in the third quarter gave Jamie Cluesman's team its first lead of the day. The long distance bucket was part of a 15-to-5 run that culminated with a Burger bucket off a King pass that gave UVA Wise a 47-39 lead with 3:16 showing on the third quarter clock.
LR BATTLES BACK
A free throw by Nia Vanzant had the Cavs lead to 14 points with 8:32 remaining before Lenoir-Rhyne began battling back. The Bears forced six fourth quarter turnovers and limited the Cavs to just 2-of-11 shooting in the period to make the comeback. A 3-pointer by the Bears' Hanna McClung capped an effort that saw the guests net a trio of triples in the final quarter to tie the game at 62 with 1:54 to play.
MISSED CHANCES
UVA Wise would miss two shots and have a turnover over the final two minutes while Lenoir-Rhyne would miss two shots, two free throws and commit two turnovers. The missed opportunities by both squads forced overtime, the first of the season for the Cavs.
EXTRA SESSION
The overtime period started with King scoring four of six points as part of a a 6-0 scoring run to give UVA Wise a 68-62 lead with 3:01 lead. Maddie Dilliger stopped the bleeding with a field goal for the Bears before an old fashioned 3-point play from Vanzant had it 71-64 Cavs with 2:37 to go. From there, a pair of UVA Wise players would foul out in Caitlyn Ross and Johnson as the Bears once more came back.
Lenoir-Rhyne would make a pair of foul shots to make it a 75-72 contest with 10 seconds to go and after UVA Wise missed two charity shots, the Bears had the ball with a chance to force double overtime. Megan Landsiedel's 3-pointer would not fall allowing the Cavs to claim the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Burger posted her second consecutive double-double as she finished with 18 points and 11 boards while Vanzant scored 17 and King chipped in 10 for UVA Wise. As a team, the Cavs made 20-of-24 foul shots and won the battle of the boards 52-to-48.
Hudson tied Johnson for game-high scoring honors with 21 while Dillinger posted 18 points and McClung tallied 12 for a trio of double-figure scorers for Lenoir-Rhyne.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
The win was the 50th for Cluesman who is in her fourth season with UVA Wise. The win moved the Cavs to 10-14 but, more importantly 10-11 in SAC play. UVA Wise now sits alone in sixth place in the league standings with three games to play. The top eight teams will qualify for the league tournament.
Lenoir-Rhyne has now lost four straight games against UVA Wise, including a pair of games this season.
NEXT UP
Cluesman's crew travels to SAC leader Wingate in a 2 p.m. tip. Fans can listen to the action live on FM 92.5 (wlsdradio.com)
