Box Score CLINTON, Miss. – It took three overtimes and a huge 3-point shot by Mia Hurst in the first overtime period to give the Lee University women's basketball team a 76-73 victory over Mississippi College inside the A.E. Wood Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. The win improved the Lady Flames to 16-4 in GSC play and 22-4 overall. The Choctaws dropped to 11-10, 14-13.

Lee was down 63-60 in the first overtime with only 13 seconds remaining. Hurst picked up an assist from Haylee Johnson and nailed her 3-pointer with only three seconds remaining and sent the battle into its second overtime tied at 63.

The second OT saw both teams score only six points. Mississippi College had a 69-66 lead when Addison Smith hit a layup to cut the Choctaw margin to 69-68 with 53 seconds left. Mallory Hampton was fouled at the 26-second mark and sank one of two free throws to even the score at 69. Neither team scored the rest of the way and sent the contest into a third OT.

Lee quickly grabbed a four-point lead (73-69) in the third extra period, but the Choctaws would not go away and tied the game at 73. After an intentional foul, Hampton put the Lady Flames back on top 75-73 with a pair of free throws and Johnson made one more charity toss to ice the hard-fought victory for the Lady Flames.

Johnson led the Lee scoring with 23 points. She hit 7-of-19 shots from the field and 8-of-10 free throws. She played all 53 minutes and did not commit a single foul. Hampton had her second straight game with 13 points, making four field goals, one 3-pointer and 4-of-6 free throws. Hurst made three triples and also finished with 13 points. Haley Cameron came off the bench and contributed nine markers and Smith turned in a key performance with eight points and nine big rebounds. Johnson, Hurst and Baylee Delbridge pulled down five boards each but the Lady Flames lost the rebounding battle 52-40.

The Lady Flames made 28-of-72 shots from the field (39%). They attempted 23 3-pointers and made seven (30%). At the free-throw line they were 13-of-18.

Mississippi College was led by Tytiana Buckley with 21 points, 10 came at the free-throw line. Tiara Abron followed with 17 and Amelia Bell finished with a double-double, 13 points and a dominating 19 rebounds. The Choctaws made 26-of-65 shots overall (40%) and hit 5-of-22 triples (23%). They marched to the charity stripe 25 times and hit 16.

The Lady Flames will return to Walker Arena for their final two games of the regular season. On Thursday they will host Christian Brothers University in a contest scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. first tip. They will close it out with a meeting against rival Union University on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"What an incredible effort from our team today. We hung in there and competed like crazy. The range of emotions in this game was unbelievable. I feel for Mississippi College because they were so tough and well prepared for us today, but I'm really proud of the effort of our group to find another way to win. This team has a knack for making tough plays and finding ways to finish games."