DAYTON – The Covington Lady Buccs overcame so much adversity to pull out a thrilling 61-59 overtime victory over Northridge.
What put the Lady Buccs into tough circumstances was the situations at free throws. Throughout the entire game Northridge had 36 free throw attempts and Covington had half of that, 18. The Lady Buccs only made six out of the 18 free throws, but fortunately Northridge only made 16 out of its 36 attempts.
Covington started off with an extremely impressive first period by building a 22-12 lead. The key was five three-pointers drilled by Covington and a combined three two-point buckets by Emalyn Johnson and Delaney Murphy. Plus, Emma Havenar added a free throw.
The Lady Buccs held on with a 33-15 lead at the break, but struggled offensively in the third period as Northridge outscored Covington 14-7 to close the gap to 40-39 heading into the fourth.
Both teams continued to battle hard in the final frame, which led to a 54-54 tie to extend the game into overtime.
Covington suffered foul issues, but was able to show its determination by pulling out a thrilling two-point victory in the final stretch. Despite missing six out of the nine free throws in overtime, key baskets by Delaney Murphy and Bella Batdorf secured the victory.
The Lady Buccs had seven players put points on the board for the team with Delaney Murphy leading the way with 20 points. Stevi Newhouse had a great game by scoring 12 points and so did Emalyn Johnson as she scored 11 points.
Covington is now 6-10 overall and 3-8 in the TRC. Next is a critical showdown at home against Milton-Union on Thursday.
| 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | OT | FINAL | |
| COVINGTON | 22 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 61 |
| NORTHRIDGE | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 59 |
COVINGTON SCORING:
Delaney Murphy – 20
Stevi Newhouse – 12
Emalyn Johnson – 11
Bella Batdorf – 9
Emma Havenar – 4
Avery Koffer – 3
Mackenzie Grear – 2
NORTHRIDGE SCORING:
Martin – 23
Williams – 10
Holloway – 10
Beavers – 9
Tyree – 6
White – 1
THREE-POINT SCORING:
Covington – Stevi Newhouse (3), Delaney Murphy (3), Avery Koffer (1), Emalyn Johnson (1), Bella Batdorf (1)
Northridge – Beavers (2), Martin (1)
