TIFFIN, Ohio - With their first playoff berth since 2012 hanging in the balance, Tiffin women's basketball took matters into their own hands on Saturday with a stunning 69-64 double-overtime upset of 17th-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan.
The Dragons would have likely still made the postseason with a loss, but the win ensured that Tiffin clinched a berth and even vaulted the Dragons into the seven-seed in the upcoming GMAC Tournament. Tiffin will now travel to face these same Panthers again on Tuesday at noon CT (1:00 PM ET) as Kentucky Wesleyan finished second in the conference standings.
The win is also the first time in Tiffin's DII-era that the Dragons have defeated a team ranked in the top-25.
KWC had only lost one game all season entering this afternoon's contest, but the Dragons were not intimidated, playing stellar defense and hanging just close enough to make a late run. At the end of three quarters, Kentucky Wesleyan had built a 42-28 advantage, but the fourth quarter belonged to the Dragons.
Savanah Richards sparked the comeback with a triple for the first basket of the period and Aarion Nichols brought Tiffin within seven, 44-37, with 4:03 remaining in regulation. Richards then went on a 7-2 run all by herself to cut the deficit to two with just over two minutes to play.
The two teams traded free throws, and then Jensen Hiegel was fouled on a defensive rebound and calmly stepped to the line to drain a pair of foul shots and knot the score at 47 with 1:04 left. After a KWC miss, Nichols found Jada Tate on a beautiful pass into the post for a layup to give the Dragons their first lead of the game. The Panthers would draw a foul and convert both free throws to tie the game back up at 49, though, and the teams went into overtime.
Kentucky Wesleyan started the first extra period with four-straight points, but Tiffin quickly tied it back up on a pair of Hiegel free throws and a Richards layup. KWC got two more free throws to take the lead, but again the Dragons tied the game on another Nichols to Tate connection with 35 seconds left, sending the game to double overtime tied at 55.
KWC scored the first basket of double, but Hiegel countered by draining a triple to put Tiffin back on top. The Dragons would go up by six, 64-59, with 38 seconds left, but KWC was not done yet. A quick triple and layup cut the lead to one with 20 seconds to play, but Hiegel and Jessica Chase went a perfect 4-of-4 from the line to put the game away and give Tiffin the wild, historic upset.
Richards finished with 21 points to lead Tiffin, also adding five rebounds and three steals. Nichols had yet another double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds while also dishing out five assists.
Hiegel also notched just the second double-double of her career with 12 points and a career-best 13 rebounds as well as four assists. Jada Tate contributed eight points, six boards, and three assists.
The Dragon defense held Kentucky Wesleyan to just 27.3% shooting from the field and 20% from deep. Rebounds were even at 48, while Tiffin dished out five more assists than the Panthers.
As mentioned, Tiffin will now head to Owensboro on Tuesday to try and make it two wins in a row over Kentucky Wesleyan.