BANNER ELK, NC- Despite the first career double double by freshman forward Hannah Lunt, the Lees-McRae Bobcats outscored Belmont Abbey 38-26 in the second half, and 9-6 in the extra period to erase a 41-29 Crusader lead, as it defeated the Abbey 76-73 in overtime tonight in Banner Elk. Lees-McRae improves its record to 7-13 overall and 5-8 in the CVAC, while the Abbey falls to 8-12 overall and 5-9 in the CVAC.

The Crusaders, which shot for a higher percentage from the floor (42.3 percent to the Bobcats' 40.7 percent) and recorded 26 more rebounds (56-30), were led in scoring by sophomore guard Marie Marquez, who finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Lunt registered her first career double double with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Senior guard Jeanette Johansson and freshman guard Kelsey Daniel both added 12 points, and sophomore center Amy Mulnix recorded a double double with ten points and ten rebounds.

Lees-McRae jumped out to an early 8-2 lead through the first four minutes before the Crusaders scored the next five points to close the lead to one with 14:47/> remaining in the half. The Lady Bobcats responded with a 10-2 run to widen its lead to nine points at 20-11 with 9:33/> left, but the Crusaders countered with a 19-7 run to earn its first lead of the night at 30-27 with 3:07/>left. Marquez opened the run with a three-pointer, and after a Lees-McRae answered with a basket and a free throw to push its lead back to nine, the Crusaders fought back with a Johansson three-pointer, followed by a jumper by Marquez.

Daniel cut it to two with a short jumper, but two Lady Bobcat free throws increased their lead back to four. Freshman guard Courtney Naquin trimmed the lead to one with a three-pointer, and after a Lees-McRae basket widened the gap back to three, Sarah Reese tied the contest at 27 with a trifecta. 52 seconds later, Johansson swished a three-pointer to give the Abbey its first lead at 30-27. From there, the Abbey offense kept rolling, scoring the next 11 points to take a 41-27 lead with 26 seconds left. Two Lady Bobcat free throws with 20 seconds left provided the halftime score of 41-29 in favor of the Abbey.

The Abbey maintained its lead in the early stages of the second half, never letting it dip below eight points, and it extending it to as many as 12 points at 48-36 with 14:24 remaining. At that point, the Lady Bobcats went on a 6-0 mini-run to close the to six, but the Crusaders answered with baskets from Johansson, Mulnix and Marquez to stretch the lead back to ten at 56-46 with 10:25 left.

However, Lees-McRae countered with a 16-4 run over the next 5:54/> to tie the contest at 60 with 4:31/>left in regulation. The Abbey would score the next five points to retake the lead at 65-61 with 2:35 left, but Lees-McRae cut it to two with a jumper, and after two Mulnix free throws extended the lead to four, Lees-McRae's Dianca Jones cut it back to two points, 67-65 with a basket at the 1:22 mark. With 57 seconds left, Lees-McRae hit two free throws to tie the game with a pair of free throws, and both teams had a chance to win the game in regulation, but neither scored, forcing an extra five minutes tied at 67.

The Lady Bobcats scored the first four points in the extra period to claim a 71-67 advantage, but the Crusaders battled back, using three-straight Daniel jumpers to give the Crusaders a 73-71 lead with 1:30 left. Lees-McRae answered with a basket with 1:06/> left to regain the lead. After two-straight Abbey chances missed, Lees-McRae took a one-point lead with a free throw with 45 seconds left. After a missed second free throw, Daniel attempted a shot with 13 seconds left that missed, and she fouled Taukia Hughes. After a BAC timeout, Hughes made both free throws to extend the lead to three. The Abbey had one final chance to send the game to a second overtime, but Reese's three-point attempt at the buzzer was off, allowing Lees-McRae to escape.