Lady Indians win epic 4 OT battle

McKeirnan, Tucker combine for 35 rebounds and 84 minutes

By Dustin Dearman, Herald Staff

It took not one, not two, not three but four overtimes and three hours for the Arkansas State Lady Indians to send the Ole Miss Lady Rebels home with nothing to show for but a bucket of sweat and tears.

The Tribe rebounded from missing a pair of possible game-winning baskets at the end of regulation and in the closing seconds of the second overtime to escape with a 86-81 victory at the Convocation Center on Friday.

This was the first time that an ASU women's basketball team have played four overtimes, in fact the Lady Indians have never played more than two.

Sophomore guard Tasha Reid gave ASU the lead for good with a rainbow three-pointer from the right side for a 77-75 lead with 3:47 left in the final overtime.
Indian forward Z Humphries would later tip back a Rae-Anne Smith miss to spread the lead to four at 79-75.

The Lady Rebels would close quickly. While missing a three with 1:37 left, Ole Miss freshman Ally Kelly flopped onto Tasha Reid to draw the foul and the three shots that came with it.

Kelly hit all three to close the ASU lead to 81-82.

Ole Miss would not score again as Smith hit a running jumper from the free throw stripe and forward Chiquita hit a pair of free throws to seal the thriller.

Head Coach Brian Boyer was exhausted from the game's tension and said he could hardly describe what happened on court.

Although this seems like the old coaching line, it's only one win," Boyer said. "I've got news for you, deep down in my heart that's more than one win.

This is the most resilient team I've seen all year. I'm not sure our fans have seen this team this year."

The teams were tied 27-27 after the first half and at 55-55 after regulation.
Lady Indian freshman guard Amber Abraham put the momentum on ASU's side early in the first OT with a three-pointer less than a minute into the extra five minute period.

Kelly hit one of two free throws for Ole Miss to tie the first OT at 59-all.
In the second overtime, Ole Miss' Saundra Jackson tied the game after receiving a lob with 6.1 seconds left.

Smith, who played 55 of 60 minutes for the Tribe, had a chance to win it as she pushed the ball up the floor and missed a 15 footer from the right wing.
Tucker got the rebound, but as she went up for the winning lay-up with less than a second on the clock, she lost the handle of the and sent the game into triple overtime.

The two teams were tied at 63-63 after the second overtime and 73-73 after the third as Jackson converted a lay-up just before the buzzer for the Lady Rebels, who rallied from a four-point deficit in the final 49 seconds.

It was strange. I don't believe I've seen one like it in 35 years of coaching," Lady Rebel head coach Ron Aldy said. "The first 20 minutes were enough, and especially the next 20. Both teams played hard. Ragged at times especially when both teams were fatigued."

Lady Indian forward Jolie McKeirnan complimented ASU's effort in the win.

This was huge. We put everything on the floor tonight: blood, guts, tears, sweat.

That's what we're all about, and I think we finally showed what kind of team we are and what kind of team we can become," McKeirnan said.

McKeirnan grabbed 17 rebounds and scored 12 points before she fouled out late in the second overtime.

ASU who improved to 5-5 on the season, shot only 35 percent from the floor and 34 percent from outside the three-point arc.

The Lady Indians had six players in double figures with Abraham scoring 13, Casie Lowman (who fouled out in the last five minutes of regulation) added 11, Tasha Reid finished with 10.

Tucker and McKeirnan both posted double-doubles while Tucker had 17 rebounds and 15 points.

The Lady Indians close out their three-game home stand against Marquette (5-3) on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.