Women's Basketball narrowly loses to Presentation in OT

LA CROSSE, Wis. - The Viterbo University Women's Basketball team took on the Saints of Presentation at home on Saturday. The V-Hawks sent the game to OT but lost by a final score of 75-79. 

Defensively, the V-Hawks allowed the Saints to out score them 15-3 in the first quarter alone. However, the V-Hawks shot much better in the second quarter and managed the Saints offense to outscore them 19-17. This sent Viterbo into the locker room trailing 22-32 at the half. 

To start the second half, the V-Hawks went on a 12-6 scoring run to cut the Saints lead to only four. A Sophie Leinfelder mid-range jumper put the deficit to only two and then Emma Wagner banked in a three to give the V-Hawks the 39-38 lead halfway through the third quarter. The remaining five minutes of the third quarter were tight, sending the two teams into the fourth quarter tied at 49. 

Emily McCurdy rolled in a layup to start the fourth quarter and put the V-Hawks up by two. Justyne Burgess followed that up with a three-pointer to extend the Viterbo lead to five. Presentation's Brittiney Seymour made things difficult for the Viterbo defense, as she had a near double-double at halftime and finished the game with almost half of the teams' points. 

The score was tied going into the final minute of the game with possession to the Saints. However, a Presentation turnover led to a Brook Becker layup with 3.2 seconds remaining. It was the Saint's Seymour who had an answer with less than one second remaining to tie the game back up at 70 apiece and send it into overtime. 

Despite an exciting overtime period, the V-Hawks were unable to convert shots in the final minute to take the loss. 

Kacie Gross finished the game with a team-high 19 points followed by Sophie Leinfelder who had 12 points. Gross also had a team-high six rebounds. 

The Viterbo Women's Basketball team will play their final regular-season game next Friday against Waldorf at home. First tip is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CST. Follow the action on viterboathletics.com or by following us on social media.