Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. –Davenport faced one of their most difficult opponents of the season in the championship game of the Saint Xavier (Ill.) Christmas Tournament as they took on the host Cougars and came away with a 79-76 win in overtime in Chicago.  The win, which is the ninth in a row for Davenport, lifts the Lady Panthers to 14-2 on the season as they will now turn their attention back to conference play on Wednesday, January 4 at home against Lourdes (Ohio).

After getting off to great starts in their previous two games in the tournament, the Lady Panthers had the tables turned on them early on against the NAIA DI No. 10 ranked Cougars (12-4) as they trailed 17-6 forcing head coach Mike Williams into a timeout with 14:25 to play in the first. The deficit grew to as many as 14 in the opening half but a 14-5 run brought the margin to just five at 31-26 and DU went into the locker room trailing 41-32 after a last second layup from Kia Frazier.

Davenport slowly chipped away at the lead throughout the second half as it seemed every time they would get within 5-6 points, the Cougars would use their own runs and keep the margin around 9-10 points.  But after a Kia Frazier three and a steal and layup from Abbey Hengesbach with 3:04 remaining, DU pulled within a single point, forcing the Cougars into a timeout. After the Cougars upped the lead back to five, DU closed the game on a 9-4 run to send the game into overtime tied at 70.

In their first overtime game since December 19 of 2010, the Lady Panthers jumped out in front 74-72 thanks to back to back buckets from Hengesbach but the Cougars rallied to score four in a row and led 76-74 with 2:41 remaining in OT. A pair of free throws from Despres tied the score at 76 and then the Panthers finished off the Cougars by nailing three of four from the foul line from Despres and Hengesbach to seal the come from behind win.

Freshman Abbey Hengesbach finished with a career high 22 points and was named to the All-Tournament team along with Abby Neff and  tournament MVP Karlee Despres.  Davenport and St. Xavier each shot 43% from the floor and tied the battle of the boards with 42 a piece.
 

Post-Game Quotes - Head coach Mike Williams and freshman Abbey Hengesbach

Williams on play of Abbey Hengesbach: “A few great plays by her allowed us to stay in the game and even take a lead or two on some big shots. We ran some isolation plays for her and that allowed her to create her own shot”

Williams on play of bench in third game in three days: “We did not play a lot of minutes but we looked a little flat..but our bench came in and turned the Cougars over a few times and they rallied us tonight. I think they did a good job in cutting into the margin and I think we wore them down towards end because our bench was able to contribute good minutes”

Hengesbach on scoring career high 22 points: “It was great to contribute and rise to the occasion against such a great team. The points to me really don't matter but it was great to help our team and get a big win.

Hengesbach on team's grit in second half and OT: “It was amazing and such a team effort.  Our five girls on the court and then the entire bench was so into the game. That was what helped so much and even though we were down most of the game and playing without one of our starters (Harris) in overtime we all rallied.”

Post - Game Notes
Davenport keeps its record perfect in the month of December over the last four years as their last setback came in the 2007-08 season against Robert Morris…The 22 points is a career high for freshman Abbey Hengesbach…DU finishes their non-conference slate of the 2011-12 season with a 10-2 record

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