MONROE, La. – For the second time in three games, it took five extra minutes for the Warhawks to get a victory, but the ULM women's basketball team captured their third win in a row as they topped Georgia Southern 72-66 on Saturday in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
“It's been a tremendous week for our program to pick up two overtime wins in the span of six days, one at home and one at the road,” said head coach Jeff Dow. “We've had three down to the minutes wins. It speaks a lot to the resiliency and toughness, mentally and psychically, of our players.”
ULM (8-10, 4-5 SBC) was able to score six points in overtime, while Christina Gray, Sharnice Brooks and Daja Chase each had a huge steal during the five minutes to help the Warhawks snatch the win.
The Warhawk defense limited Georgia Southern (4-13, 1-7 SBC) to just 35.6 percent from the field over the three periods, including holding them scoreless in overtime.
Brooks led the charge for the Warhawks as she tied a career-high 28 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had four blocks.
Chelsea Tieuel contributed 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal, while Gray chipped in 11 rebounds and eight points.
Patrice Butler led the Eagles with 23 points.
The Warhawks took an early lead as Brooks hit back-to-back buckets to start the game.
The Eagles then used a series of three-pointers to jump out to a 31-17 lead with 8:20 left before the half.
ULM went on 16-4 run to end the half, cutting the lead down to two, 35-33, as the teams headed into the locker room. The stretch was highlighted by Brooks, who garnered nine of her 20 first half points over the last 7:12 of the half.
The Warhawks extended the run to 23-4 as they scored the first nine points of the second half. Six of these points came from Gray as ULM took a 42-35 advantage with 17:56 left in regulation.
Georgia Southern then used an 11-2 run of their own to regain the lead, 50-47, with 9:26 remaining in regulation.
The lead switched three more times over the last 4:46 of regulation. With 29 seconds left, Brooks sank a layup to give the Warhawks a two-point lead, but Georgia Southern's Angel McGowen matched the bucket to send the game into overtime.
This was the last bucket Georgia Southern would get as the ULM defense held the Eagles scoreless in overtime to capture a 72-66 victory.
The Warhawks hit the road Thursday to take on Troy at 5:15 p.m. in Trojan Arena.
