The Washington Lady Blue Lions played host to the Westfall Mustangs in a non-conference game at Washington High School Friday night.
The Lady Lions improved to 2-1 on the season with a 45-43 overtime victory.
Junior Megan Sever led Washington with 14 points, including 6 of 6 shooting from the free throw line. Sever also grabbed 12 rebounds for what coach Samantha Bihl said was another double-double. Sever also had five assists and three steals.
Senior Aaralyne Estep scored 10 points, hitting Washington’s only three-point basket of the game. Estep also had five rebounds, one assist and two steals.
Junior Natalie Woods scored nine points, junior Allie Mongold had seven points and sophomore Alizae Ryan scored five. Ryan also had 10 rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Woods had five rebounds, two assists and four steals; Mongold had three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Westfall senior Marissa Mullins was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points.
Senior Gabby Patete also reached double figures with 11 points.
The Lady Lions took a 13-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
By the end of the first half, the teams were tied, 19-19.
Both teams scored five points in the third quarter and both equally scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to put the score at 34-34 at the end of regulation.
In the overtime period, Washington scored 11 points to nine for Westfall.
“I am extremely proud of the effort and heart our kids played with tonight,” Washington head coach Samantha Bihl said. “I can’t emphasize that enough.
“We were down by five with 35 seconds to go and our girls just kept fighting,” Bihl said. “They believed in each other and were able to make the big plays when we needed them the most. Everyone stepped up, one way or another. Our free throws in overtime were crucial and our defense was solid.”
Rebounding was another key, Bihl noted.
“This is an area in which we knew we had to execute because of our lack of size,” Bihl said. “We made some mistakes and saw areas we need to improve in, but, tonight was certainly a testament to how hard work pays off. It was a great team win.”
Washington will open Frontier Athletic Conference play with a game at Jackson Monday night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Wch 13 6 5 10 11 — 45
W 5 14 5 10 9 — 43
WASHINGTON — Aaralyne Estep 2 (1)-3-10; Allie Mongold 3-1-7; Trinity George 0-0-0; Alizae Ryan 2-1-5; Addie Shiltz 0-0-0; Natalie Woods 4-1-9; Megan Sever 4-6-14. TOTALS — 15 (1)-12-45. Free throw shooting: 12 of 17 for 71 percent. Three-point field goal: Estep. Rebounds: 35 (11 offensive). Turnovers: 14. Assists: 10. Steals: 12.
WESTFALL — Alyssa Wyman 1-2-4; Marianna Packer 0 (2)-0-6; Tara Wolfe 0-0-0; Grace Wolfe 1-0-2; Paige Weiss 0-0-0; Marissa Mullins 5 (2)-4-20; Natalie Holland 0-0-0; Aubree Thomas 0-0-0; Reese Moehl 0-0-0; Gabby Patete 1 (2)-3-11. TOTALS — 8 (6)-9-43. Free throw shooting: 9 of 16 for 56 percent. Three-point field goals: Packer, 2; Mullins, 2; Patete, 2.
