With three of the team’s five starters and top two scorers sitting on the bench, Lafayette’s role players stepped up in crunch time to lead the Rams past host Tabb 80-77 in double overtime Tuesday.
Just moments into the first overtime period, Lafayette suffered a major blow when point guard Rachel Lia, who was in the midst of another magnificent performance with 34 points, fouled out. She was the third starter to do so, joining Kenya Holiday (10 points) and Jill Curtis on the bench for the remainder of the game.
But Megan Wiltshire, who finished with 13 points and shot 7-9 from the free throw line, Grace Macomber (5 points, 3-3 FT) and Addison Mooradian (3 points) stepped up admirably to carry the load, Rams’ coach Chris Brown said.
Having to overcome the loss of three starters for two overtime periods was just one of the adversities Lafayette faced on this night. At one point in the first half, the Rams (4-0) trailed by 16 points and were behind by 12, 34-22, at halftime.
“It was just one of those games, man. I can’t say enough about our fight,” Brown said after the game.
Lia, who has scored 20 or more points in each of Lafayette’s first four games of the season, sparked the second-half comeback, but it was the role players behind her and several others off the bench who finished things off in overtime.
“These are the type of games that are going to pay off down the road,” Brown said.
Madison Clemens, who hit a big game-tying 3-pointer late in regular, led four Tabb players in double figures with 23 points. Brianna Harper added 19, Micaela MacFarlane finished with 12 and Imani Jarmon had 11.
Warhill Overcomes Slow Start to Beat Bruton
Kieran McClure scored 13 points and Kasey Grainer finished with 10 as Warhill defeated Bruton 47-30 at home Tuesday.
Keely Rochard added seven points for the Lions (4-0), who overcame a 13-6 deficit at the end of the first quarter to outscore the Panthers 31-17 the rest of the way.
Naya Samuel and Kesley Sluss scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, to lead Bruton (1-2).
