Back to Back Eagles! Asbury repeats as KIAC WBB Champs with OT win over IU East

3/2/2016 12:00:00 AM

(Story by Asbury Sports Information)

RICHMOND, Ind. - It certainly lived up to the hype and was nearly identical in emotions from a season ago both in suspense and the positive outcome for the Eagles. Asbury won a overtime classic over IU East, 87-82, in the KIAC Women's Basketball Tournament Finals on Tuesday night. It took more than enough drama to get there, though.

With less than five seconds on the regulation clock, the Asbury women's basketball team looked up at a three-point deficit, 75-72. With ball in hand at mid-court there was worry across the Eagles' faces, that is except for Catie Fletcher. Fletcher caught the in-bounds pass, turned with a hand in her face and drained an off-balance 3 ahead of the buzzer to force the game to extra time all tied at 75-75.

The overtime period was more about Fletcher and Co. as the Eagles' leading scorer approached 30 points on the night by hitting shots and getting to the line. She helped her team extend their overtime lead to as many as six with 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. She hit on all 11 of her attempts for the game and finished with a game-high 30.

The Eagles (23-9) were in a bind late in the contest as they saw a 12 point lead dissipate in the third, and as a they kept in the contest senior, Kylee Gorby took a seat with five fouls after she was whistled for two charges on back-to-back trips down the floor. The Eagles dug in, though, forcing the Red Wolves' Tia King into tough shots and cutting the lead to a manageable three points with the game winding down. Fletcher's three dropped with a loud cheer from the bench and the AU faithful in attendance.

For the start of the game, though, things fell the Eagles way as they pushed the pace, got the buckets to fall and found themselves up by double digits for most of the second quarter. They took a nine point lead, 39-30, into the half and stretched it to 12 in the third quarter before IU East found their momentum to flip the score in its favor. IU East led by six at one point in the third and in the fourth but the Eagles wouldn't go quietly. In the end, the Eagles got the win, 87-82.

Kali Whiteside had a career night on the boards, keeping the Eagles in it with her play on both the offensive and the defensive end. She finished with an Asbury program record of 27 rebounds in the game, 20 on the defensive boards and seven on the offensive. Brittany Warren complemented Fletcher's 30 with 22 points on the night, and Gorby added 15 points before here exit in the fourth.

Asbury captured their second KIAC title in a row with the win and are now 23-9 on the season awaiting Wednesday night's pairing for the NAIA DII Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa. The selection show will be live online at www.NAIANetwork.com at 6 p.m. ET.

IU East (22-10) will also be in the NAIA Division II national tournament. Kristen Miller scored 27 points to lead the Red Wolves. Tia King added 26, and Da'Sha Boyd added 13 off the bench.