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January 8, 2009

No. 7 Lady Cards escape in OT

Jacksonville gives TVCC another scare before falling 74-70

By Benny Rogers Sports Editor

Make it four straight times now the Trinity Valley Community College Lady Cardinals have survived against the Jacksonville College Lady Jaguars.

Rallying from an 11-point deficit in the final 11:36 of regulation, the seventh-ranked Lady Cardinals forced overtime and came away a 74-70 winner Wednesday night in a Region XIV Conference contest at Cardinal Gym.

“I’m still not sure how we won the game,” Lady Cardinal coach Michael Landers said after the game.

He’s probably not alone.

The Lady Cardinals shot 29 percent from the floor, including hitting just 5-of-33 three-pointers. Jacksonville’s junked-up” 2-3 zone gave them all kinds of fits.

TVCC’s salvation was at the free throw line. The Lady Cardinals hit 19-of-23 with sophomore post Jasmine Nelson connecting on 7-of-10 on her way to a team-high 19 points.

The Lady Cardinals led ever-so-briefly in the early stages of the game. But once the Lady Jaguars took a 14-12 lead on a Rayvin Miller three-pointer at the 11:33 mark of the opening half, they stayed there until TVCC opened the second half on a 4-0 spurt for a 30-30 tie.

Miller appeared to have cooked the Lady Cardinals’ goose as the second half neared its midway point. She scored seven straight points on a three-pointer, layup and steal and 10-foot jumper to put the Lady Jaguars into a 45-38 lead.

The Jacksonville lead was at 48-39 with 11:36 left on a pair of Jamie Johnson free throws.

Aided by Shareese Ulis, Taylor Booze and DeShawna Banks three-pointers, the Lady Cardinals made a final run. Banks completed a three-point play with a free throw with 4:03 left to give TVCC a 57-56 lead.

Tawatha Tucker sent the game into overtime for TVCC on a mid-lane jumper with four seconds left.

A Tucker baseline jumper midway through OT gave TVCC the lead for good.

TVCC improved to 11-5 overall and 5-0 in conference with the win.

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