St. Louis, Mo. – The Spalding University women's basketball team won a hard fought game over Webster University, 76-71 in overtime. The win brings Spalding's overall record to 16-8 and a 10-7 mark in the SLIAC. The loss sees Webster fall to 12-12 overall and 9-8 in conference play.
 
Alex Martin led all scorers with 22 points and just missed out on a double-double with nine assists. Brandy Hunter added 13 points, while Maya Hardin had a game high 11 rebounds to go along with her nine points.
 
The Gorloks started the first quarter strong on an opening 11-2 run. Mackenzie Myers would try to start a rally with a jumper, but Webster was right there with an answer from beyond the arc. The Gorloks would lead 14-4 with four and a half minutes remaining in the quarter. Webster would stretch their lead further and led 18-6 with two and a half minutes left in the first. The teams would start to even out the scoring and the first quarter would end with Spalding trailing 23-11.
 
Kim Mingus opened the second with a three-point field goal, which cut the lead back down to single digits. This would be the catalyst in an 11-2 run that brought the lead down to three at 25-22. Hunter hit consecutive three-point field goals over that stretch. Alex Martin would hit a leaning jumper to give Spalding their first lead at 30-29 with just under three minutes remaining in the half. The teams again began to balance each other out as the quarter came to a close. With Spalding trailing 33-32, they used a smart final possession which allowed Hardin to hit a jumper to give Spalding a 34-33 lead heading into the break.
 
Webster started off the third with a 7-2 run to jump back in front of Spalding, 40-36. That would immediately be followed by another 7-2 run and the Gorloks outscored Spalding 14-4 over the first six minutes of the quarter. Spalding would struggle to find an advantage as they would trail 53-45 heading into the final frame.
 
Alex Martin started off the fourth with a three-point field goal and the Webster lead was cut to five. Trailing 58-50, Spalding used a 7-3 to try and claw their way back into the game, but the teams could not find much separation. The quarter would end with Spalding hitting a pair of three-point field goals and holding a 66-64 lead with a minute remaining. Webster would find an answer however and tie the game at 66 to force overtime.
 
Webster would start overtime with a three point advantage after a jumper and one made free-throw, but Spalding was ready to answer and regained the lead with a 7-0 run including three made free-throws by Alex Martin. With just under a minute remaining, Webster would cut the lead down to 2, 73-71. Spalding would have the answer though, and claim victory after trailing by as many as 14 points.
 
Spalding will celebrate senior day this Saturday, February 20^th when they welcome Blackburn College to Derek Smith Gymnasium. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 1 pm EST.