DALLAS, Texas – It was a thrilling night for day two of the DCC Women's Basketball Thanksgiving Classic as two NCCAA Southwest Regional Teams faced off in a double overtime matchup. The Dallas Christian women's basketball team endured a double-digit deficit in the first half and would tie things in regulation thanks to one of six three-pointers by
River Romine. After being up two points in the first overtime, the Saints got a basket in the top part of the lane to knot the score again. However, the Crusaders wore down the guests and would outscore them 14-10 in the second overtime to collect a 91-87 victory and improve to 5-0 overall.
Keiarra Rivers matched a game-high 28 points with 10-for-23 shooting and going 7-for-10 at the free throw line. She notched a double-double with 10 rebounds and had three assists, too. Romine as mentioned above had a career-high 19 points and that was thanks to 6-of-15 shooting from behind the arc and overall.
Naiya Brown set a personal-best for points consecutive games with 13 off the bench.
Amber Covington added 11 points to give her four-straight with at least nine.
Faith Salinas worked against bigger post-players and still garnered a 14 rebounds and tied for a team-high four assists with McKayla Washington. The duo combined for 15 points with eight and seven, respectively.
Things were back-and-forth through the first five minutes, but Randall would get out to a 12-6 lead with four and a half minutes left. The Saints stretched the lead to double-digits, 23-13, with 29 seconds left in the opening stanza. Randall enjoyed a size advantage inside the post and would contain a lead around double figures through most of the second quarter. DCC sliced into the deficit to get things to four points (36-32) after a couple points by Brown. She had a steal to create the opportunity on the second straight basket. However, the Saints would answer back with seven points in a row to bounce the lead back to 11. Romine would have back-to-back made baskets for Dallas Christian to cut the score to a 43-38 halftime deficit. Rivers had a block on the previous play and Covington would end the half with one of her own on a long range attempt by Randall.
Part of what helped the Saints was a 10-for-12 free throw shooting effort in the first quarter and 15-for-18 in the entire 20-minute span. The team would go 27-for-38 overall in the game. DCC was comparably 16-for-25 overall, with an 8-for-11 in the second overtime alone.
In the third quarter, Randall nursed an eight-point advantage in the first part, but the Crusaders would get consecutive treys by Brown and Courtney Locke to spark an 8-2 run and tied things at 56. That was the first time since early in the first quarter the score had been tied. That was the last time a basket was counted for DCC though as the team went scoreless for three minutes. Luckily the Saints were only able to gather four points with two minutes of being without points, too.
The Crusaders never retook a lead throughout the rest of regulation, but would tie things at 62 thanks to a Romine triple. Rivers would knot the score again with 2:57 left to make it 66-all. Randall split at the line and had a jumper by Amiya Howard to make it 69-66 and 1:35 remaining. Sides started missing shots that included a tying three-point attempt by Rivers. Covington would haul down an offensive board and after missing a second chance, she would rebound her own miss again and get to the line. Then she missed out on both free throws. She forced a big steal with 45 seconds and Brown was off the mark on her three. However Salinas, who was the leader on the glass, would get the offensive board and find Romine for a clutch three with 33 seconds left. Randall missed on a jumper by Lindy Nowakowski with 11 seconds left and DCC Head Coach
Larry Tidwell opted to hold his timeouts and let his players draw the last play up. A hot-handed Romine did heave the last shot but was off and the team's first overtime game in the early season would begin.
Neither team led by more than two points in the overtime frame and DCC would finally get in front for the first time since the opening quarter with a jumper in the paint by Rivers with 1:19 left. Team's traded baskets with Salinas having the leading shot for DCC to make it 77-75 and 39 ticks on the clock. The Crusaders forced a turnover and Randall saw a lot of time go off the clock before fouling after an initial inbounds play. Still, the Saints had life with six seconds and the score remained the same due to a pair of missed shots on the line. Howard would come through with a basket at the top of the key as time expired.
Rivers was the player that had missed those first overtime free throws and responded strongly with the next six points in the game, which included four at the line. The native of Manor, Texas, would notch 11 of her personal-high in the second, five-minute period. After Randall got a point back at the line, Salinas essentially got the dagger with an old fashioned three-point play with just under two and a half minutes. That eight-point lead remained after Rivers had a layup to answer Randall's pair of points. Things were not over, as Amber Bustos nailed a trey to make it 88-85. Rivers got one back at the line, and the Saints missed on the next shot. Salinas had another split to make it five points. Two free throws for the Saints slashed the margin back to three with six seconds in the game. Romine, who was the hero to keep the game alive back in the fourth quarter would score her only point she did not have from behind the three-point line, which was the first-of-two at the line. The rebound to Randall did not factor, as a turnover ended the game.
Things were pretty even as far as play analysis goes. The Saints did hold a 12-6 edge in points in the paint in the second quarter, but the teams tied all other quarters of regulation and in the first overtime. Randall would finish with a 36-32 edge overall. The Crusaders held an 8-2 edge in fast break points, 8-2, with all such points from the game occurring in the first half.
Randall's Mikayla Emarthle matched Rivers for 28 points and was 11-for-20 from the floor. She snatched a game-high 19 rebounds, while Nowakowski had a double-double with 15 points and 14 boards.
The 28 points for Rivers were not a personal-high, but she did secure that total of 36 at Randall last season on February 2. The team's 11 made three-pointers were a season-best and first time to break double-digits in that category. The team also has achieved a season-high eight blocks and eclipsed 20 assists for consecutive games. Although the 21 dimes were one off from the game 24 hours prior.
During the Starting Lineups introduction, Dallas Christian recognized Janell Kenny, who the Thanksgiving Classic was honoring, as she fights cancer.
Dallas Christian wraps up the three-day event on Saturday versus Ecclesia College at 12 p.m.
"Dallas Christian educates and mentors students to be people of influence engaging in their calling to the work of Christ in the church and in the world."
