KSU women force OT on buzzer-beater, ease past Furman
Dec. 7—Kennesaw State rallied from a 10-point deficit to force overtime on Amani Johnson's buzzer-beating 3-pointer, then dominated the extra session to beat Furman 70-59 on Monday at the KSU Convocation Center.
After Kate Johnson made a pair of free throws to give Furman (5-5) an 8-7 lead with 5:35 left in the first quarter, the Paladins maintained control for much of regulation until Kennesaw State (3-6) began to chip away in the fourth quarter.
The Owls scored eight points over the first 1:34 of the period to narrow the deficit to two. Furman continued to keep Kennesaw State at arm's length before Stacie Jones' jumper with 4:32 left tied the game at 46-all.
Momentum continued to bounce back and forth before Grace van Rij's jumper and Tierra Hodges' free throws gave Furman a 57-54 lead with 21 seconds remaining.
Coming out of a timeout by the Owls, Amani Johnson took her first attempt at a 3 that missed, but rebounded by teammate Alexis Poole. The Owls maintained possession until Gabi Legister fed a pass to Johnson, who made the game-tying 3 on the right side of the arc as time expired.
From there, Kennesaw State cruised, outscoring Furman 13-2 in overtime.
"We played with a lot of energy and we shared the ball," Kennesaw State coach Octavia Blue said in a release. "To get Alexis Poole back on the floor is really huge for us. She just gets so much attention. She's able to score on the low block, which opens the outside for everyone else. Really happy with our defensive effort, and when we play good defense, it translates to the offensive end."
Poole led Kennesaw State with 19 points, going a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. Johnson added 14 points and had seven assists to pass 400 for her career, while Bre'Lyn Snipes scored 11.
The Owls, who shot a season-best 84.6% (22-for-26) from the free-throw line, will be off for exams before resuming their schedule hosting Georgia Southern on Dec. 17.
Tate Walters had 19 points for Furman, with 12 apiece from Hodges and former Cherokee High School standout Kate Johnson.
