NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Brooke Wesner tallied a career-best 29 points to lead Tiffin to an overtime, come-from-behind 84-77 victory over Trevecca on Thursday night in the Dragons' GMAC opener.
Aarion Nichols made five free throws over the final 96 seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime knotted at 71, and the Dragons outscored the Trojans 13-6 in the extra period to earn the victory.
With the score tied at 76 and less than a minute to go in overtime, Nichols converted another free throw for the lead before Wesner nailed her fifth triple of the night with just 33 seconds to play to put the Dragons up four. Tiffin would add four more free throws in the final seconds to earn the seven-point victory.
Wesner obliterated her previous career high point total, nearly doubling the mark of 15 she had just set a couple of week ago at Wayne State. Her five threes is also a career-high, going 5-10 from deep and 10-17 from the field in the win. Nichols also had a monster game, earning her third career double-double with 17 points and a whopping 15 rebounds.
Savanah Richards was also in double figures for Tiffin, totalling 11 points and four rebounds. Jada Tate also added six points, nine boards, and two blocks off the bench.
Tiffin dominated Trevecca on the boards, securing 57 rebounds to the Trojans' 36. That mark also helped lead to a 17-10 advantage in second-chance points for the Dragons.
TU opened the game with nine unanswered points, beginning with Wesner's first triple and ending on a pair of free throws from Nichols. The Trojans would wake up and battle back, however, outscoring the Dragons 15-6 over the rest of the first quarter to tie the game after one period.
Trevecca's first-half run continued into the second quarter, and the Trojans eventually took a seven-point advantage, 39-32, into the break.
The Dragons began to chip away at the lead early in the third quarter, though, and finally regained the advantage at the 4:22 mark on a Nichols jumper. The two teams traded blows over the rest of the quarter, with a Jessica Chase triple knotting the score at 54 in the final seconds. TNU countered with a three of their own with six seconds left, however, to regain a three-point advantage heading into the fourth.
The Trojans went on an 8-4 run to open the fourth quarter, though, and led 65-58 with 4:38 remaining in regulation. Threes by Jada Tate and Wesner cut the deficit to three, and the Dragons came all the way back to tie things up at 71 on the Nichols free throws to send the game to overtime.
Tiffin will now face the tall test of taking on Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday, who has opened up the 2019-20 season with victories in all eight of their games.