LEWISTON, Idaho –
Olivia Sprague connected on a game-winning 30-foot 3-pointer with one second left on the clock, lifting Oregon Tech to a 65-62 upset win at No. 15-ranked Lewis-Clark State inside the P1FCU Activity Center.
After LC (10-4, 4-2 CCC) tied the game at 62-62 on a Payton Hymas runner with three seconds left, the No. 20-ranked Lady Owls turned to their fifth-year senior, who caught a pass between the 3-point line and the half court stripe, launched a high-arching shot, splashing home the triple – giving Tech their first-ever win on the Warriors home floor.
OIT (9-5, 5-1) took a 53-44 lead early in the fourth quarter on an
Avery Andrews bucket – but had to play the final six minutes without leading scorer,
Tatum Schmerbach, who fouled out after scoring 17 points.
The Warriors rallied, getting a 3-pointer from Kendall Wallace, with two Wallace free throws giving the hosts a 58-57 lead. The Owls answered, as
Chelsea Ching converted a tough 3-play and fed
Kendall Fealey for a floater to extend the lead to 62-58 with just over a minute left. Wallace converted off the bounce to pull LC within a bucket and after a defensive stop, Hymas got the equalizer, setting up the heroics from Sprague.
Both teams traded big first half runs – as the Warriors rattled off 11-straight points to take a 22-12 lead late in the first quarter – only to have
Jozie Ramos and Schmerbach each score six in a 19-3 run spanning the two frames, giving OIT a 31-25 lead.
Ramos finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, Sprague had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, with Andrews scoring eight points and adding a career-best 10 rebounds. The Lady Owls held a 38-30 edge in rebounds in the victory.
Wallace scored a game-high 19 points for LC, with Darian Herring adding 16 points and eight rebounds – as Tech limited the Warriors to 4-of-18 shooting from 3-point range.
OIT returns home on Friday for a first-place battle vs. Eastern Oregon at 5:30 p.m. – the 16th annual Pink Out, presented by Sky Lakes Cancer Treatment Center – with the first 1,000 fans receiving a Pink Out t-shirt.
