Arkansas Baptist College tied it up with 41 seconds left. Three Rivers College had been in the lead since closing the first half with a 14-3 run. It was up by as much as 15 late in the third quarter. With the ball, the Lady Raiders set up the offense and Joya Smith missed a step-back jumper from the free-throw line with 20 seconds to go. The Lady Buffaloes then missed a floater from 10 feet, Three Rivers grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with 3.8 seconds left. The inbounds pass near midcourt went to leading scorer Ge'Naisha Robinson, who had 16 points on 50 percent shooting. She drove left and drew a foul on the shot with 0.9 left. While Robinson had the best shooting night among the Lady Raiders, she had the worst night on free throws. She was 3 for 9 when she stepped to the line one last time and missed the first.
Jalisa Smith subbed in off the bench to give the Lady Raiders a better chance at an offensive rebound. With twin sisters Jalisa and Joya down low, coach Jeff Walk signaled for them to run an "X" play, effectively switching sides after the shot in the hopes that their man would be lost trying to block them out on the side they started from. Robinson's second free throw missed, but Joya Smith grabbed the board and hit the putback as time expired for her first game winner ever. "I just started jumping up and down because I knew they didn't have enough time to make another shot," said Joya Smith following a 74-72 win over Arkansas Baptist at the Bess Activity Center. "I just remember everybody running toward me and jumping up and down." It was her fifth offensive rebound of the team's 11. She grabbed eight total to go with eight points. The Lady Raider starters were in the doghouse early.
Three Rivers (9-2) struggled out of the gate and needed the bench to rally before eventually winning. Kaylee Heggemann got a third-try putback on the opening possession for the Lady Raiders, which also prompted Arkansas Baptist to use its first timeout just 30 seconds into the game. The Lady Buffaloes (1-10) scored 10 straight out of the break and it took the Lady Raiders the rest of the quarter to retake the lead. The second half didn't start much better. The starters were scoreless for the first 3 minutes and with their eight point halftime lead cut in half, Walk subbed in a line change. Then, clinging to a two-point lead with a minute left in the game, DeNayia Holmes was the only starter on the court.
The Three Rivers bench finished with 26 points, led by Camdyn McDaniel's 10. All five bench players scored. "That's about where it has been, give or take 4-5 points," Walk said of the Bench scoring. McDaniel was also third on the team in minutes played and four bench players had at least 15 minutes. Holmes was also in double figures with 11 points. Three Rivers shot 33.8 percent from the field and 31.9 percent on its 2-point attempts, both numbers slightly better than season lows. It also attempted a season high 45 free throws, and made 51 percent of those. "We make free throws early, we put it away early. We win by no telling how many," Walk said. The bigger and taller Lady Buffaloes grabbed 23 more rebounds and 11 more offensive rebounds, but were minus-3 on second-chance points. Joya Smith was the only Lady Raider with more than one offensive rebound. "Everybody wasn't going for defensive or offensive rebounds, and they had all five going for the rebounds every time," Joya Smith said. The Lady Raiders have now won seven straight heading into their 6 p.m.
Tuesday matchup at home against No. 21 ranked Vincennes. Vincennes is 9-1 and its only loss was by eight points to top ranked and defending national champion Gulf Coast State. "We had them beat at their place last year. Had the ball on the rim down one and it rolled out. The sophomores know we can play with them," Walk said. "Some crowd support that night would be awesome." Three Rivers' two losses were both by three points against Wabash Valley (8-1). The first midseason poll will be released Wednesday.