Box Score

January 6 – A gutsy team effort and a career-high 26 points from Syrea Thomas helped propel the Oberlin College women's basketball team to a thrilling 72-64 overtime victory over Haverford on Tuesday night.

After surrendering the first six points of overtime, the Yeowomen locked down defensively and closed out the game on a 14-0 run to secure the win. Alyssa Clark displayed her senior leadership as she was the difference down the stretch – going a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw in line in the additional period.

Natalie Richman's buzzer beater is what sent the game into the extra frame with the score tied at 58.

It appeared that Oberlin was going to escape with the win in regulation after Thomas rejected a triple-try by Kathleen Abels, but the ball went out-of-bounds leaving two seconds on the clock for Richman's heroics.

With the Yeowomen up five in the final minute, Brittany Lattisaw cashed in two of her 14 second-half points to get Haverford within three, 53-50, with 45 seconds left in regulation. However, Oberlin made just 3-of-5 free throws and lost another on a lane violation in the closing moments to allow the Fords to send things into the extra session.

Thomas finished 9-of-16 from the floor – including a sharp shooting 5-of-8 performance from downtown. Alyssa Clark, who was 11-of-13 at the stripe, also added 21 points – with 19 coming in the second half. One night after setting a career-high with 11 boards, Emily Chu Finkel bested that mark with 12 rebounds, while adding nine points on the offensive end.

“This was another amazing effort for our team tonight,” head coach Kerry Jenkins said. “We battled hard all night long and were able to pull out two big road wins in the last two nights. We need to continue to work and carry this momentum over into conference play.”

With the score knotted at 32 four minutes into the second half, Oberlin went on a mini 12-5 spurt to grab its largest lead of the half, 44-37, with 11:10 left to play. But the Fords rallied to tie the game at 44 and 46 before getting even one last time just before the second-half horn.

In the first half, Oberlin (3-8) quickly jumped out to an early lead as a Thomas three-ball was sandwiched in-between a pair of Alicia Smith triples on the book ends – giving OC its biggest lead of the stanza at 16-5 with 10:33 left in the opening frame. However, the Fords battled back to get within four, 28-24, at the intermission.

For the game, the Yeowomen shot a season-best 41.5-percent (22-of-53) – making a season-high nine three-pointers along the way. Oberlin's 72 points was also its largest offensive output of the season. Haverford (0-6) checked in at 34.9-percent (22-of-63), but made just 3-of-16 (18.8 %) triggers from beyond the arc.

Oberlin returns back to Ohio for NCAC play, as it will take on Wittenberg on Saturday afternoon down in Springfield, Ohio. Tip-time is set for 2 p.m.