Ferrum forward Zarkia Mattox capped off a huge night by making two foul shots with eight seconds left in overtime to lift the Panthers to a thrilling 91-89 victory Monday evening over Bridgewater College.
Bridgewater had no answer for Mattox as the Panthers rode her triple-double to victory. Mattox scored 48 points to go along with 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Eagles’ leading scorer, Jessica Lam, also had a career night as the senior poured in a career-high 36 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the floor.
The teams played to an 18-18 standoff after one quarter, but the Panthers outscored the Eagles 20-9 during the first eight minutes of the second quarter to lead by 11 points, 38-27, with 2:23 left in the half.
Allie Coburn and Rebecca Harvey scored consecutive buckets for the Eagles to trim the margin down to seven, before a jumper by Ferrum’s Taylor Atkinson pushed the Ferrum lead back to nine. Coburn and Atkinson traded points before a 3-pointer by Lam sent the Eagles to the break trailing by six, 42-36.
Ferrum led by 10 points, 47-37, at the 6:42 mark on a layup by Erin March. Bridgewater then hit the Panthers with a 14-5 flurry to trim the deficit to a single point. A 3-pointer by Briana Moore pulled the Eagles to within seven, but Mattox hit 1-of-2 free throws to make the score 48-40. Moore and Ferrum’s Kelsey Mosley traded hoops before a three-point play by Harvey inched the Eagles closer at 50-45. Mattox and Moore then traded jumpers to keep the margin at five. Lam followed with two quick buckets to pull the Eagles to within one, 52-51, with 2:14 left in the third period.
The third period ended with the Panthers holding a two-point, 59-57 lead.
Bridgewater pulled even with eight minutes left in the final period when Harvey worked the paint to knot the score at 63-63.
The score was tied at 65-65 and 67-67 before Mattox and Maggie Self converted layups for a 71-67 Ferrum lead. Moore then scored the next four points to level the score again at 71-71 with 2:37 left in the game.
After Ferrum’s Brooke Lewis and Bridgewater’s Sydni Carey traded points, Mattox worked inside and converted a three-point play to put the Panthers on top 76-73 with 2:04 remaining.
Carey’s short jumper pulled the Eagles to within one and Bridgewater got a stop at the defensive end when Kaitlyn Lehan blocked a shot and Carey chased down the rebound. Carey knocked down a baseline jumper for a one-point Bridgewater lead with 52 seconds remaining, but Kelli Mounce drained a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Panthers a two-point, 79-77, lead with 37 seconds left. Carey hit another big shot for the Eagles as her layup in traffic with nine seconds left tied the score. Ferrum got off the last shot but Jessie O’Connor’s jumper at the buzzer was off target as the game went to overtime tied at 79-79.
Mattox and Lam traded buckets to start the extra session and Harvey answered another Mattox hoop with a driving layup as the score remained deadlocked at 83-83 with 2:38 left.
A layup by Lewis put the Panthers up by two, but Lam responded with a jumper to tie the score at 85-85. Mattox then worked the paint for another bucket, but Lam went to the foul line and hit two free throws, tying the score at 87-87 with 1:52 on the clock.
Mounce hit a jumper to put the Panthers ahead, but Harvey worked the lane for a bucket to tie the score for the final time at 89-89.
Following Harvey’s bucket, the Eagles regained possession when the Panthers were whistled for an illegal screen at the offenive end. The Eagles were unable to take advantage of the turnover as Harvey’s 15-footer was partially blocked by Ferrum’s March and O’Connor pulled in the rebound for Ferrum. The Panthers put the ball in the hands of Mattox and she drove the lane and was fouled with six seconds left. The Ferrum standout hit both foul shots for a 91-89 lead.
Bridgewater had one last opportunity, but Lam’s runner in the lane at the buzzer was just off target.
In addition to Lam’s career night, the Eagles received double-digit scoring from three more players. Harvey had her best game in an Eagles’ uniform as she scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. Moore hit 7-of-11 shots, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range, to score 17 points and Carey finished the game with 12 points.
Mattox received help in the scoring column from Mounce with 17 points and March with 10.
The Eagles held a huge advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Panthers 47-27. Harvey paced the Eagles with nine boards. Ferrum made up for the deficit on the glass by taking better care of the basketball. The Panthers turned the ball over just 13 times while Bridgewater finished with 25 turnovers.
Bridgewater looks to get back on the winning side of the ledger Wednesday evening when the Eagles travel to play Hood College. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m.
Share
Contributors
