CHICAGO -
Carly Martin led the Blues with 19 points and nine rebounds,
Elena McHargue hit a late basket to extend the game to a third overtime, and the Whitman College women's basketball team took down Wisconsin Eau-Claire in a thrilling 85-81 triple overtime win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament held at the University of Chicago.
The win lifts the Blues (22-5) to a matchup against the winner of Northwestern-St. Paul and UChicago with a trip to the Round of 16 on the line.
Jessie Ruden led the Blugolds with 22 points and Courtney Crouch and Bailey Reardon both chipped in 15 points before fouling out.
In a game that featured so many twists and turns, significant storylines and so much to unpack, Whitman treated the Blues faithful to an epic contest, one that saw so many players provide invaluable contributions. Kalia Coverson delivered 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench as a key post presence along with Korin Baker who chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds.
The game was a tight affair throughout, but it were the Blugolds who got off to a hot start. Ruden nailed a three pointer and Whitman was struggling to find the basket and found itself down 9-2 early. Baker became Whitman's steady presence in the opening quarter, scoring six points to keep the deficit at only five by the end of the period.
The Blues came alive in the second period as the shots began to fall. Lindsay Drango, McHargue and Coverson all scored to shave the lead to one point. UWEC continued to lead but Martin began to heat up from three. She nailed a triple with 3:35 to play to cut the lead to one, nailed another with 1:40 to play and hit her third with under a minute remaining to give Whitman a 31-30 halftime lead.
The momentum continued into the third quarter. Drango and Baker scored on back-to-back possessions as part of a 9-4 run to put the Blues ahead by eight points with 5:18 to play. Whitman was on the verge of extending the lead to double digits, but the Blugolds rallied to make it a one-point game heading to the fourth quarter. Coverson's basket was the only points for the Blues for the remainder of the period as the fans buckled up for an exciting fourth quarter.
Points were hard to come by but the Blues continued to lead until Crouch's layup with 4:08 to play put UWEC up 52-51. McHargue gave Whitman a bit of breathing room with a layup to put Whitman up by three with 40 seconds to play, but Ruden tied the game after hitting all three of her free throws on the other end after she was fouled shooting a three pointer. McHargue had a chance at a buzzer beater, but couldn't get her baseline jumper to go as the game headed to its first overtime.
Whitman struck first on a Drango bucket but the Blugolds responded and scored on back-to-back baskets to take the lead. Drango scored again but neither team could separate itself after five minutes of overtime.
Baker struck first on the second overtime, converting an and-one three point play on the period's opening possession. With two minutes to play, Whitman took a four-point lead and was on the verge of closing out the game. The Blugolds rallied, scoring six unanswered including a midrange jumper from Kylie Strop to give her team a two-point lead with six seconds to play. On Whitman's final possession, McHargue kept Whitman's season going, dribbling into the lane, pulling up and nailing a jumper just before time expired to send the game to overtime No. 3.
The final five minutes featured tired legs and gut check time for both squads, but it were the Blues who pulled ahead early and held on for the win. Coverson scored at the hoop to put Whitman up 80-76 less than a minute into the period, and Drango hit a pair of late free throws to propel the Blues to the epic victory.
Whitman's second round game is set to tip off at 6:00 p.m. PT (8:00 p.m. CT)
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