Lakers Win Senior Day Thriller Against Jaguars

CHICAGO – Gabby Beggs and Amelia McNutt collapsed on a Governors State guard in the corner to draw the conclusive jump ball and help Roosevelt secure an 84-83 double-overtime win on Senior Day against Governors State on Saturday at the Goodman Center.

When it was called upon in the extra sessions, the Lakers defense came up with several key stops to help preserve the victory. In the first overtime, McNutt tied the game with 20 seconds left on a well-scripted play out of a timeout. With the Jaguars holding for the last shot, Beggs created a double team on the ball handler and came up with a steal with 1.4 seconds left. Prior to the jump ball, the Lakers (12-14, 9-11 CCAC) forced a pair of misses from Governors State, the second of which ricocheted off a Roosevelt player to give the Jaguars the ball under the basket.

Both teams held seven-point leads in the first half, but during crunch time, neither team was able to separate itself from the other. The lead changed hands 17 times in the game with 19 ties, most of which happened in the final 20 minutes of action. The teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 53, and neither squad led by more than a basket in the fourth.

The overtimes were hotly-contested affairs as the teams traded baskets and stops for both five-minute periods. In the first overtime, Meghan Urbanski gave the Lakers the lead 77-76 only for the Jaguars to respond with a three-point play at the other end. After taking a timeout to advance the ball, Roosevelt executed the play to perfection and Beggs found McNutt for the floater to tie the game before getting the stop at the other end to ensure a second overtime.

In the second overtime, neither team made a field goal until the final minute of the period when Governors State knocked down a 3-pointer to take a one-point lead. Roosevelt immediately responded with Kencia Levasseur driving the lane for a layup with 39 seconds left. Beggs was credited with her second block of the game at the other end on Governors State's first attempt at tying it before securing her third steal of the contest on the jump ball to end it.

All five starters finished in double figures for the Lakers, led by 20 points from Jayla Turchin, as the starting five made a tremendous impact all over the floor. Four of the five starters grabbed at least seven rebounds and four of five also dished out at least five assists each. McNutt scored 16 points and tied with Turchin for the team lead with nine rebounds. Beggs scored 14 points, assisted on seven baskets and also grabbed seven rebounds. Turchin added six assists to her total while Meghan Urbanski scored 15 points and handed out five assists. Erionna Moore scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds as well.

Roosevelt did a good job crashing the glass with a 52-41 rebounding advantage that led to 15 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds. Levasseur scored seven points in her return to the lineup after more than a month on the sidelines, and five of her seven points came off her three offensive rebounds. The Lakers also scored 17 points off Governors State's 15 turnovers while minimizing the damage on their own 23 turnovers.

Prior to the game, Roosevelt honored its four seniors this season: Carmen Barnes, McNutt, Moore and Urbanski.

The Lakers will be the eighth seed in the CCAC Tournament, which starts Wednesday night. They will travel to Indiana University South Bend with a tipoff time not yet decided. Roosevelt battled the Titans in early January in South Bend before falling 84-68 to the hosts.