Panther girls win in double OT

Mt. Pleasant's nonconference girls' tilt with Notre Dame didn't just go down to the bitter end on Monday night, but it did so three times. The Panthers picked up a thrilling win, forcing two overtimes, both on game-tying three-pointers by Sydni Coleman, and eventually winning the game 42-41 in double overtime after a clutch three from Maddie Williamson and a key stop before time expired.

The Panthers led 8-6 after the first quarter, thanks in part to early threes by both Williamson and Coleman. Lydia Stewart went off for eight points in the second half, and Mt. Pleasant held a 19-6 lead at the break.

Stewart stayed hot with a three-pointer to open the third quarter, but Notre Dame began to claw back shortly after. The Nikes outscored the Panthers 11-9 in the third quarter and the Mt. Pleasant lead was at one point, 28-27 after three quarters.

Notre Dame grabbed the lead in the fourth quarter and eventually stretched that lead to 35-32 in the final two minutes, but Coleman knocked down a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game up and flip the momentum.

The Nikes bled the clock down to the final seconds and nearly took the lead with a shot in the final 10 seconds, but it was off and Mt. Pleasant got the rebound. Williamson drew contact on a half-court heave but nothing was called and the two teams went into overtime tied 35-35.

Notre Dame took a 41-39 lead early in the first overtime. Isabel Ashton cut the lead in half with a free throw, but a couple of Nike free throws gave Notre Dame a 39-36 lead, and put the pressure squarley on Mt. Pleasant again.

Coleman got the ball in the corner, much like she did in regulation, and knocked in another game-tying three with 1:17 left in the overtime. That set the game up in the exact same spot as regulation, as Notre Dame attempted to run out the clock for a last-second opportunity.

'We just told them to stay back, watch the back door and see what they're going to run,” Panther coach Curt Watson said after the game. 'If they're going to beat us, make them beat us from the outside. I thought they really did a good job of that.”

The Panthers held despite multiple opportunities for Notre Dame to win it in the final ticks. The Nikes missed a three-pointer in the final 10 seconds, but the ball bounced off the Panthers and went out of bounds. With 1.7 seconds on the clock, Williamson broke up the inbounds pass and an extra period was forced.

Notre Dame had the lead again in the second overtime. The Nikes led 41-39 in the final two minutes, but it was time for Mt. Pleasant to hit another big shot. This time it was Williamson, who stepped into a three-pointer at the top of the key and drained it to give Mt. Pleasant a 42-41 advantage.

Notre Dame ran the clock down and had a handful of opportunities to win the game before the final buzzer, but the Panther defense stayed tough and survived.

'I'll tell you what, that was a total team effort,” Coach Watson said. 'All eight that played did their job. Some of them did their job defensively, we did a lot of defense for offense (subs) and I thought they really played well.”

Coleman finished the game with a team-leading 13 points off the bench. She finished the night 3-4 behind the three-point line, and the Panthers hit a total of seven threes throughout the night.

Stewart ended the night with 11 points and three assists. Williamson had nine points, five rebounds and four steals. Sadie Carrasco scored four points and finished with an incredible eight blocks. Isabel Ashton scored three points and Karsyn Lamm had two.

Mt. Pleasant moved to 3-12 overall this season. They'll try and improve on a 2-4 Southeast Conference record in their next game, on Friday, Jan. 25, against Ft. Madison.