Spartan Women Fall Short in Overtime Against Edgewood

AURORA, Ill. December 6, 2008 - In overtime Edgewood took control with a 7-0 run to start the extra session and would hold on to claim the 89-86 NAC victory despite a furious late come back by the Spartans..

AU shot 48 percent (16-of-35) for the first half, while Edgewood completed 11-of-29 total shots (38 percent) from the field. The Spartans lost momentum midway through the first half as the Eagles went on an 11-0 run after a Spartan timeout with AU leading by 13 (26-13).

But AU quickly reacquired the momentum heading into the second half. The first half ended with a 42-33 score in favor of the Spartans

The leading scorer at the half was AU sophomore guard Jessica Mason, with 14 total points. Edgewood was paced by sophomore guard Janelle Gosh with nine and senior forward Megan Scheele with eight first half points.

The Spartans held off the Eagles in the second half until 3:25 to play on a desperation three-point attempt by Scheele gave the Eagles the first lead of the game (65-63). The teams would battle back and forth in the remaining minutes of the second half with regulation ending in a 73-73 tie. Edgewood would outscore the Spartans 40-31 in the second period.

Top performers for the Eagles were senior forward Megan Scheele with a double double of 25 points and 10 rebounds, freshman guard Brianna Droessler with 16 points and sophomore guards Shae Beckwith and Gosh finished with 13 points.

For the Spartans, Mason finished with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds, sophomore guard Ashley Daniels had 16 points, seven assists and four steals and senior forward Kim Voiles had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The Eagles finished the game shooting 41 percent (25-of-61), 25 percent from three-point range, and were 33-of-39 from the free-throw line. The Spartans finished shooting 40 percent overall (28-of-70), 29 percent from beyond the arc and 24-of-29 from the free-throw line.

Edgewood is now 2-4 overall and 2-1 in the NAC, while AU falls to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in conference action.