SPORTS
Davidson Wins Thriller in Double-Overtime, 87-81
Davidson senior Mackenzie Latt donned #3 in honor of Andrea Robinson in the Wildcats game against UMass. The Wildcats trailed most of the game, but forced a first and then second overtime. The ‘Cats pulled away and defeated UMass 87-81. Latt earned a career high 31 points in the double overtime win.
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Mackenzie Latt scored a career-high 31 points, Kianna Speight hit the 20-point mark for the second game in a row and the duo combined for 18 points in two extra periods as Davidson pulled out an 87-81 double-overtime win against Massachusetts Wednesday night in Atlantic 10 play in front of a crowd of 941 inside John M. Belk Arena.
Latt wore sophomore Andrea Robinson’s #3 jersey to honor her teammate who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. The team encouraged fans to wear orange to show support for Robinson.
Davidson Freshman Katie Turner on a fast break against UMass. The Wildcats trailed most of the game, but defeated UMass 87-81 in double overtime.
Latt and Speight each hit a pair of free throws in the first 50 seconds of the second overtime to break up a 73-all tie, and Davidson (9-12, 4-4 A-10) went 8-for-9 overall on its way to securing the win. The pair scored 11 of the Wildcats’ 14 points in the second OT.
Latt finished 11-for-21 from the floor and swished home a career-high tying 9-of-11 free throws, while adding 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double this year. Speight, coming off a career-best 27 points her last game, scored 23 on 6-of-16 shooting, with three of the field goals from three-land, and drained a personal-best 8-of-10 free throws. The duo each dished out five assists as well.
Despite a tough shooting night, Katie Turner scored 11 points, had four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sarah Donovan pulled in a season-high 13 rebounds to go with seven points and a season-high four steals.
UMass (9-11, 1-6 A-10) was led by Hailey Leidel’s 25 points, while Bre Hampton-Bey and Maggie Mulligan scored 13 and 10 points, respectively.
The first overtime saw the Minutewomen go up 71-67 after a Leidel three-pointer with 3:45 on the clock. Davidson came back with a quick 6-0 run, going up 73-71 on a Speight layup and 1:24 remaining. On the next UMass possession, it drew a foul and Leidel swished home both to tie it up again. Neither team could convert on their last possessions, with Donovan just missing a layup under the basket with one second left.
Davidson senior Saadia Timpton defends against UMass. The Wildcats trailed most of the game, but forced a first and then second overtime. The ‘Cats pulled away and defeated UMass 87-81.
The Wildcats, who trailed by 13 in the third quarter, finally overcame the deficit in the fourth quarter and briefly took a 66-64 lead on a Turner triple with 1:06 left in regulation. UMass answered on its next possession with a layup and 40 seconds left.
Donovan had a chance to get the lead back when she was fouled with 16 ticks left, but missed both free throws. She hustled though and gather in the loose ball on the second miss and the ‘Cats called a timeout with 13 seconds. Out of the quick break, Davidson turned the ball over with 5 seconds remaining, but on defense forced the Minutewomen into their own turnover and the game went to overtime.
UMass had a 25-16 advantage after the first quarter, hitting 10-of-15 shots in the quarter. It kept the lead heading into halftime, going up by as much as 16 at 42-26 in the second quarter before the ‘Cats scored the last five points of the quarter to make it 42-31.
Davidson got itself back in the contest by outscoring the Minutewomen 18-9 in third quarter behind Latt’s eight points.
Paced by Latt and Donovan, the Wildcats tied their season-high for rebounds with 47, getting 19 of those on offense. Behind Saadia Timpton‘s personal-best six assists, the ‘Cats dished out a season-best 23 dimes and pocketed a new season-high 14 steals.
Davidson Head Coach Gayle Coats Fulks draws up a play against UMass. The Wildcats trailed most of the game, but defeated the Minutemen 87-81 in double overtime.
Davidson remains at home to take on Dayton Saturday at 2 p.m. During halftime, former Wildcat great and Hall of Famer Jennifer O’Brien will have her jersey retired.
GAME NOTES: This was the fifth meeting all-time between both teams … Davidson has won the last two straight and now trails 3-2 … the Wildcats kept their double-digit assist streak alive at 12 with their 23 assists … it was their second 20-assist game in a row and was the most assists in a game since dishing out 25 last year against Rhode Island (2/11/17) … Davidson has had at least three players score in double figures in nine of the past 10 games … the game feature seve ties and 10 lead changes … Latt’s double-double was the 24th of her career … the Wildcats last double-overtime game was at High Point during the 2015-16 season … tonight’s game was in honor of sophomore Andrea Robinson, who was diagnosed with Leukemia in December, with orange ribbons being worn.