The Allen Red Devils women got by Neosho at home in a packed house which made for an electric atmosphere in Iola on Wednesday night, 81-75, in overtime.
The Allen Lady Red Devils (13-6; 2-2) led Neosho the entire night until they allowed the Panthers to outscore them 21-16 in the fourth quarter and force overtime. Still, the Lady Devils prevailed in the extra frame when they outscored Neosho 10-4.
“I thought they deserved to win in regulation,” said ACC interim head coach Andy Shaw. “We had the lead there and they fought and tied it up there in the last few seconds and immediately when we got into the huddle I told them ‘you deserve to win this game.’”
Britney Schroer was counted on underneath early when she banked in a trio of layups and a pair of free throws to help the Lady Devils get the early advantage.
Allen had to deal with a stifling Neosho press and the Panthers’ ability to rebound for much of the game.
Allen’s Naomi Smith hauled in 17 rebounds as the teams tied at 51 rebounds apiece for the night.
“It was a full court press and they threw different presses, man press, zone press, and it was the key to the win, taking care of it,” said Shaw. “I was super proud of them because the past few days in practice we’ve worked on fundamentals, pivoting, faking a pass to make a pass and doing all those little things to get the next pass moving.”
Neosho’s Kori Babcock spelled trouble for the Lady Devils when she hit a three and drew a trio of free throw makes in the opening quarter. The teams headed to the second knotted up at 18-18.
Allen continued to count on Smith in the second when she hit a two-point basket as well as a trio of free throws. Noa Muranaka also got involved, hitting a two and a free throw, to help Allen take a 32-29 at the end of the half.
Smith finished as the Lady Devils’ leading scorer and continued her run in the third quarter when she registered three points. She was joined by Tonya Williams hitting a three and a free throw and Sara Ortiz posting a pair of layups and a couple free throws.
The Panthers responded when Im’Unique White and Chantoryia Rivers each bucketed five points in the third. The game headed to the fourth with Allen ahead, 55-48.
Allen leaned on Shade Richardson most in the fourth when she banked in a couple of layups and a pair of free throws.
Neosho wouldn’t go down easily, though, as Zariyah Washington was fouled for a pair of free throws, and the Panther trailing by two with 2 seconds remaining.
She buried both and sent the game to overtime knotted at 55-55.
“She’s (Richardson) very quick with the basketball, she’s hard to stay in front of and she’s good at setting her teammates up for scoring opportunities. She’s also a good on-ball defender,” Shaw said. “She’s been performing well since we’ve been in conference play.”
