Box Score LYNCHBURG, Va. – Senior forward Chaney Forbush scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Lynchburg College to a 65-62 overtime victory over Washington and Lee in ODAC women's basketball action on Wednesday evening at Turner Gym.
The game was tightly-contested throughout as neither team led by more than six points and there were seven ties and eight lead changes. Lynchburg (10-2, 3-0) held a 58-56 lead with 14 seconds remaining in regulation, but junior guard Jackie Clifford (Tenafly, N.J. / Tenafly) drilled a jumper with six seconds left to send the game into an extra session.
In the overtime period, LC twice gained a two-point advantage in the opening 1:03 only to see the Generals knot the game up. Forbush then gave the Hornets the lead for good when she split a pair of free throws with 1:38 left for a 63-62 lead. Lynchburg senior guard Sammi Goldsmith hit a jumper for a 65-62 lead with 43 seconds left and W&L missed four shots from the floor in the final 25 seconds, including a potential game-tying three-pointer from sophomore guard Emily Perszyk (Greendale, Wis. / Greendale) with eight seconds remaining.
The Generals (6-6, 1-2) shot 8-of-15 (.533) from the floor in the first quarter and claimed a 21-19 advantage following the opening 10 minutes of play. W&L's largest lead of five points came with 3:58 left in the first period when Clifford nailed a three-pointer for a 14-9 advantage. LC used a 5-0 run to tie it at 19-19, but senior forward Shelbi Hendricks (Louisville, Ky. / Kentucky Country Day) hit a layup with 19 seconds left for the lead after the opening quarter.
The Hornets wrestled the lead away (26-25) on a triple by junior guard Charmaine Hairston with 6:41 left before the half and claimed a 33-30 lead at the intermission. Lynchburg surged out its largest lead (42-36) with 2:46 left in the third period, but the Generals used an 8-0 run across the end of the third and beginning of the fourth period to assume a 44-42 lead with 9:36 left in regulation. Senior guard Paige Corvino (Clarendon Hills, Ill. / Fenwick) accounted for five points, while Perszyk nailed a three-pointer as well.
W&L pushed out to another five-point lead (52-47) following a layup by sophomore forward Emma Redding (Allentown, Pa. / Central Catholic) with 4:47 left in the fourth period but a 6-0 run sparked by four points from Forbush gave the Hornets the lead back (53-52) with 2:00 remaining. Redding made a layup with 1:41 left to give W&L the lead, but a pair of Forbush layups gave LC a 57-54 advantage with 29 seconds remaining. Clifford hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left and the Hornets made 1-of-2 at the line with 14 seconds left, before Clifford hit the jumper to send it to overtime.
W&L finished 26-of-63 (.413) from the field and committed just 10 turnovers in the contest. Hendricks led the way with 16 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Redding tallied 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. Clifford added 11 points and five rebounds, and Corvino notched eight points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Lynchburg shot 41.4 percent (29-70) from the floor but went just 3-of-12 (.250) from the foul line. Forbush's effort was supplemented by 11 points and nine rebounds from sophomore forward Caroline Naumann.
Washington and Lee returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Roanoke for a 4:00 pm contest.
-- http://www.generalssports.com --