Point Lookout- The women's college game was going according to the way the two teams lined-up on paper. Freed-Hardeman University of Henderson, Tennessee, ranked 2nd in the nation in the NAIA Division I, was the favorite over lower division College of the Ozarks, ranked 4th in the country in Division II of the NAIA.
And for most of the contest, it appeared to be no contest as the visiting Lions jumped out to a 22-7 lead, had a 36-17 lead at the intermission and had it all but put-away in the 2nd half, up by 21.
But then a funny thing happened. After shooting just 24% in the first half, College of the Ozarks started heating-up in the 2nd half, shooting 51% and slowly creeping back into it. In the words of head coach George Wilson, "it just shows what happens when you never give up." And the Lady Bobcats never did. Still trailing by double-digits in the final five minutes, C of O closed the game on a 17-2 run. And at the buzzer, Kenzie Lauffer, who had only 7 points on 3 of 6 field goals, made a long-range trey to tie the game at 66, send the fans into a frenzy, and force overtime.
From the only tie of the game, the Lady Bobcats would then come up with the only lead change of the game as they scored first in the overtime period on another 3-pointer, this time by Emily Walker, and never trailed again in picking up an amazing and improbable 74-71 overtime victory for their 13th win in 15 games this season.
Walker led the way for College of the Ozarks with 17 points while Nixa product Morgan Smith, who's averaging over 25 points a game, scored 15. Tanner Merriman and Hannah Wisdom each chipped in 10. All 9 Lady Bobcats who played scored in what is the biggest win for the program this season.
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