Lady Raiders optimistic after OT loss to Wabash Valley

Three Rivers sophomore Kamille Brown (middle) shoots as she is triple-teamed by Wasbash Valley during Saturday's women's college basketball game at the Libla Family Sports Complex.

DAR/Mike Buhler

The No. 5-ranked Three Rivers College women's basketball team has many reasons to still feel optimistic after suffering a 76-73 overtime loss to the Wabash Valley Lady Warriors Saturday afternoon at the Libla Family Sports Complex.

“It makes me happy that we've got room to grow,” Three Rivers coach Alex Wiggs said. “We've got the opportunity to get better, and we're going to continue to do those things. We are 1-1 on the year, our loss to the No. 3 team in the nation, and we're okay.

“We've got, hopefully, 34 more games to go, because, at the end of the day, with 34 games left, that means you're playing in the national championship game. You can't let one moment or one game define you — so it's how we respond and how we do that is what matters.”

The Lady Raiders (1-1) trailed much of the game, but tied the score at 58 on Kaleigh "KT" Thompson's steal and layup with 79 seconds left in regulation.

With 1:06 left in the fourth quarter, the Wabash Valley bench was whistled for a technical foul, resulting in Lexi Weaver making two free throws to put Three Rivers ahead 60-58. The Lady Raiders extended their lead to 62-58 on Kamille Brown's runner with 44 seconds left in regulation, but Wabash Valley cut the lead to 62-61 on a 3-pointer just 10 seconds later.

Weaver drained a pair of free throws with 24.5 seconds left to push the lead back up to 64-61, but Beautiful Waheed drained a triple with 10 seconds left to tie the score at 64 and force overtime.

“I think that's what everybody expects whenever you've got preseason No. 3 vs. preseason No. 5, (there's a chance) it's going to come down to extra time,” Wiggs said. “Unfortunately, one team's got to win and one team's got to lose. I'm really proud of the girls, the way they fought, the way they battled and gave ourselves an opportunity there at the end.”

In overtime, Weaver drained a trey with 4:09 remaining to put Three Rivers ahead 67-66, but the Lady Warriors got back-to-back baskets from Waheed and Madison Lewis to take a 70-67 lead and never trail again.

For the game, the Lady Raiders shot 33% from the field (23-for-70) and 17% behind the arc (4-for-23) and committed 24 turnovers, but outrebounded Wabash Valley 51-48 and also limited the Lady Warriors to 37% shooting from the field (25-for-68).

“We have 12 returners, but we've also got a lot of kids in different positions, especially (after graduating) D'Kariya Jackson, which is obviously a huge, huge piece,” Wiggs said. “We're still learning that. We got to figure out and we've got to start games better. We had 18 turnovers in the first half tonight, then we had six in the second half, so we've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball and doing those things from the get-go, and not just in the second half.”

Weaver paced Three Rivers with 20 points off the bench, including going 10-for-10 at the foul line, while Thompson had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Samari Taylor finished with 11 points and nine boards to just miss having a double-double. Jasmine Davis added eight points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Waheed paced the Lady Warriors with 28 points, while Erin Henry added 17 points and Lewis finished with 14. Nakiya Harris had a game-high 15 rebounds to go with eight points for Wabash Valley.

The two teams are slated to meet again on Jan. 4 at the Spencer Sports Center in Mount Carmel, Illinois.

“A lot can change (between now and then),” Wiggs said. “One of the big things that's going to change for us is we get Brittani Wells back on Nov. 18. … That's why I told the girls after the game, 'Hey, we've got an opportunity to continue to get better, because we're adding some big pieces.' That's going to help the other pieces as well continue to get stronger and continue to get better.”

FRIDAY'S GAME

Three Rivers 82, Olney Central 55

The Lady Raiders used a 27-10 third-quarter edge to snap a 30-all halftime tie and roll to victory in Friday's season opener at the Libla Family Sports Complex.

Macey Timberman led Olney Central with a game-high 18 points.