MUSKOGEE, OK: The Texas Wesleyan University women's basketball team (7-7, 2-3 SAC) pulled out an overtime win in hostile territory taking down Bacone College (5-9, 1-4 SAC) 67-64 at the Palmer Center on Thursday.
 
Both of these teams entered the game with a proverbial monkey on their back, each at 1-3 in the conference standings. As the conference preseason number three team, this seemed to be a take care of business kind of game for the Lady Rams.
 
The Lady Rams started out the contest on an 11-0 rally capped by a Katelynn Threats bucket and back-to-back jumpers from Onyesonam Nolisa. Texas Wesleyan powered straight through the first quarter taking a 17-6 lead.
 
The Warriors cut the lead to four with a short burst capped by an Ashley Barry-Wallace field goal to make it a 17-13 game. The Rams responded with a 5-0 run to jump back out to a 22-13 advantage on a Threats jumper. Wesleyan kept the Warriors at bay and held on to a 26-20 lead at the break.
 
Threats kept throwing down a steady rain of shots heading into the second half, which turned out to be an important factor as the game drew to a close. The Warriors trimmed the lead down to 35-32 on a Barry-Wallace three pointer midway through the third quarter before Seanna Arredondo hit from long range to even the game at 42 apiece. The Warriors made it an 8-0 run before the end of the quarter to take a two point lead, their first of the night.
 
Bacone ended their 10-0 rally at the start of the fourth quarter to draw a 46-42 lead. The Warriors then slowly built up an 8-point, 54-46 lead with 5:06 left in regulation. The Rams were not done though, and found a spark on a Lasheena Trice triple that fueled a 10-0 rally to regain a 56-54 edge with 1:30 left on the clock. Texas Wesleyan could not stay out of foul trouble and the Warriors had an opportunity to take to lead with 30 second left, but missed the first of two free throws to leave the game at a 56-56 tie.
 
The two teams went shot for shot to start overtime, neither team able to establish a lead. Fuller stepped up and stepped into a three that found the bottom of the net to make it a 63-60 Lady Ram lead with 1:30 remaining, but the Warriors kept drawing fouls. Jasmine Flanagan put a pair in from the charity stripe to give Bacone a 65-64 advantage with 21 seconds left. She had been doing it all night, and Threats did it again by putting in a layup and drawing a foul with just five seconds left on the clock to take a one-point lead. Threats was not able to make the free throw, but Trice was able to come down with the most important rebound of the contest to seal the overtime win for the Lady Rams.

For the game, neither team shot over 40 percent from the field. TWU shot 39 percent, while Bacone shot 28 percent. The Warriors actually shot better from behind the arc at 30 percent (7-23), but went 0-2 from downtown in overtime. Wesleyan won the rebound battle, 47-36.
 
The game probably did not go as head coach Bill Franey drew it up, but Texas Wesleyan left the Palmer Center with a win, "Two of our starters went down with injuries…with the players we had left the team got a huge effort and made the plays that had to be made to win."
 
Threats posted a dominating effort with a career high 30 points, tacking on 10 rebounds for a double-double night. The nation's top rebounder, Nolisa notched six points, seven boards and a block before shed had to leave the game due to injury. Chervelle Cox tallied eight points and 11 rebounds. Falesha Fuller had seven points and six rebounds for the Lady Rams.
 
The Lady Rams will wrap up a three-game road trip with a meeting against John Brown University on Saturday, January 16. That game set for a 1:00 pm start in Siloam Springs, AR.