Box Score DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – Down 12 at halftime, the St. Scholastica women's basketball team rallied to force overtime and win a thriller against the University of Northwestern 87-86 Friday night.

The Saints got off to a slow start in the early going, as the Eagles quickly took a 13-4 lead, courtesy of 10 quick points from Chanel Madison. After a CSS timeout, Northwestern scored another six unanswered points to push the lead to 19-4.

The Saints would begin to respond after the slow start and trade baskets to push the score to 29-14 in favor of the Eagles. St. Scholastica would gradually chip away at the lead, and cut the lead to 11 after a pair of free throws from Kelsey Sorenson-Giffrow (Braham, Minn./Braham HS (Minn. Duluth)). The Eagles would be forced to call a timeout of their own after a Danica Schellbach (Rush City, Minn./Rush City HS) jumper and a layup from Hovick cut the lead to seven at 34-27.

The Eagles quickly responded with a 10-5 run of their own to end the half as the Saints were unable to overcome Northwestern's presence in the paint. The Saints would head into the locker room down 44-32 as the Eagles shot over 50 percent from the field, led by Mollie Sir's 12 points and Chanel Madison's early 10. For CSS, Mariah Hovick (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) led all scorers with eight points as the Saints shot just 32.4 percent from the field in the first half.

The second half was a different story, as CSS shot 51.7 percent from the floor while holding the Eagles to 35.7 percent shooting. After a pair of NWU free throws, St. Scholastica quickly cut the lead down to two after eight points from Sorenson and a pair of buckets from Erin Frase (Phillips, Wis./Phillips HS (UW-River Falls)) pushed the score to 48-46. The Saints quickly tied the game at 50 on a Caitlin McKernon (Coon Rapids, Minn./Fridley HS) layup, and CSS called timeout immediately following the basket.

The Eagles took advantage of the timeout to recover from the Saints offensive onslaught and the teams exchanged baskets to push the score to 62-60 in favor of Northwestern with just less than eight minutes left in regulation. Northwestern would gradually extend their lead to six as a pair of layups from Jacki Smith and a jumper from Sir gave the Eagles a 70-64 advantage with 4:38 remaining.

CSS would continue to battle, cutting the lead to 70-68 after a pair of buckets from Hovick and Frase. However, Northwestern would take a 74-68 lead after capitalizing on a pair of missed CSS shots. The teams exchanged free throws to push the score to 76-70, but buckets by Frase and Schellbach cut the lead to 76-74 with 1:32 remaining. Hovick then came up with a big steal with 30 seconds remaining and knocked down both free throws to force overtime at 76-76.

CSS opened up a quick five point lead in overtime as Hovick knocked down a pair of free throws and Sorenson hit a three, but the Eagles responded with a three point play from Sir and a long two from Courtney Cunard to tie the score at 81. A Northwestern layup put the Eagles up two, but a Frase jumper tied the game at 83 apiece. After an Eagle timeout, Cunard knocked down a three from the top on a well-executed play, but Sorenson responded with a three-point play of her own to tie the game at 86. The Eagles held for the final shot, but Sammy Doucette (Colfax, Wis./Colfax HS (UW-River Falls)) was fouled on the rebound with four seconds remaining. After missing the first, Doucette knocked down the second free throw of the double bonus, giving Northwestern one final chance at the win. However, Frase quickly ended any hopes of a buzzer beater, stealing the inbounds pass and sealing the win for CSS, 87-86 in a thrilling overtime finish.

Sorenson had a big second half to lead all scorers with 23 points. Hovick was second with 16 of her own, and Frase finished with 12 points for CSS. The Eagles were led by Mollie Sir with 22 points, and Cunyard chipped in 17 points and 14 boards as well.

The Saints will place their winning streak on the line tomorrow at 3 p.m. as the Rams of North Central visit the Reif for an afternoon contest. Live video and stats can be found on Saints Sports Net.