PITTSBURGH, Pa. – La Roche women's basketball welcomed fans for the first time this regular season and treated fans to an overtime thriller, defeating Bethany, 87-83.
It was all Redhawks in the early stages of the first quarter, jumping ahead 16-5 in the first seven minutes of play.
The remaining stretch belonged to the Bison, scoring 14 of the final 19 points as the score sat in favor of the red and black 21-19 going into the second.
The second quarter was a back and forth battle, as the teams traded baskets, but La Roche was able to hold the lead the entire 10 minutes, despite Bethany coming with one on a couple of occasions and led 39-35 at the break.
Out of the locker room, the Redhawks led 44-39 over the first 2:17, but the Bison came through with a quick 6-0 run to take a 45-44 lead.
The red and black reopened a 51-47 lead with 4:53 remaining, but over the next 3:41, Bethany used a 10-0 run to open its largest lead at 57-51 and held the lead going into the fourth, 59-55.
In the fourth, La Roche saw itself trailing 67-60 with 4:06 remaining and countered with a 10-2 run to re-gain the lead at 70-69 just two minutes later and then ultimately ended regulation tied 74-74.
In overtime, the Bison jumped ahead to lead 79-76 with 2:41 to go and over the next two minutes, the Redhawks pulled through with a 7-0 run to go ahead 83-79 and eventually seal the victory.
For the game, La Roche shot 50.8% (33-for-65) from the floor and 8-for-24 (33.3%) from deep. From the charity stripe, they went 13-for-18 (72.2%).
On the other side, Bethany went on to shoot 52.6% (30-for-57) from the field, 10-for-26 (38.5%) from deep and 13-for-17 (76.5%) from the foul line.
Four Redhawks went on to score in double figures, with Alexi Robison's 19 point and five rebounds performance leading the charge.
Makayla Abram and Jazmine Dunn both came through with 16 points. Abram added four rebounds, while Dunn chipped in with five rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Dasja Anderson also hit for 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.
La Roche returns to the court Tuesday, Nov. 26 when they host #19 Baldwin Wallace at 6 p.m.