Lady Hawks stumble against Piedmont in OT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon women's basketball team fell to Piedmont 72-67 in overtime on Sunday.

In a game in which neither team led by more than six points, Huntingdon (4-4, 0-2 USA South) had its opportunities and led 60-57 with less than 15 seconds to play in regulation. Piedmont (3-3, 1-0 USA South) hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 13 seconds left and Huntingdon missed a 3-point attempt with three seconds left.

Piedmont opened overtime with an 8-2 run and led 68-62 with 43 seconds left. Junior Jello Weatherspoon, who scored Huntingdon's final five points, sank two free throws to make it 69-67 with 14 seconds remaining in overtime.

Despite hitting just 19-of-37 free throws for the game and 8-of-20 free throws in overtime, the Lions sealed the game by sinking 3-of-4 free throws in the final 13 seconds.

"I thought we battled hard today. That being said, I thought Piedmont battled harder in overtime," Huntingdon head coach Buzz Phillips said. "We were 13-of-29 from the free-throw line and we were outrebounded 56-45 and that shouldn't happen. But one of my biggest concerns is some of the poor decisions we made at crucial times.

"It was a tough game and it drops us to 0-2 in the conference. We're just going to have to dig our way out and get some conference wins after Christmas."

Junior Mackenzie Garmany matched her season-high with 17 points, including a season-best 5-for-9 effort from 3-point range. Garmany also had four assists. Junior Jenna Dorman just missed a double-double with 16 points and a season-high nine rebounds.

Sophomore Juliette Harp turned in her fifth double-double in eight games with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Harp, who leads the USA South with 12.1 rebounds per game, also had four steals.

Huntingdon returns to action at home on Jan. 7 against Pensacola Christian. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.