Eagles Fight in Overtime but Fall to Mount Mary

After celebrating a big win, adversity would challenge this young Lady Eagles team. Getting to the hotel at 10:30 p.m. in Minneapolis, MN was followed by a 6 a.m. wake-up call in order to get on the road to Milwaukee, WI by 6:30 am. College basketball season is in full effect!

While only traveling nine players, Coach Graw and Coach Beil had predetermined to sit Shelby Hembera for this game in order to give her ankle a rest and keep her focused on long term goals while being patient within the process of recovery. This meant that the Lady Eagles would go into the game with eight players and all eight would be needed to finish the game.

The first half began in horrific shooting fashion as the Lady Eagles shot a whopping total of 13 percent from the field. Coach Graw said, "Growth can only happen through adversity; I was waiting for the game in which the lid was closed on the hoop and wanted to see how our girls would respond. I never thought the lid would be a 13 percent lid." Emmaus had 25 points and Mount Mary had 36 at the half.

The second half would show what the Lady Eagles were made of. "I told the girls at halftime that we as coaches were waiting for a game like this to teach us how to play when shots don't fall. How will you respond when you can't make shots? We needed more energy and intensity on the defensive end in order to stimulate our offense. We needed a 'jump-start,' so to speak," Coach Graw said. Led by her defensive intensity, Madison Laib began to catch fire from the field scoring her 24 points primarily in the second half of the game and helping the Lady Eagles to claw back into the game. By the end of the third quarter Emmaus had cut the lead to 8.

The fourth quarter began with injuries to both Nakiah Kimble and Sharon Tomlinson which left the Lady Eagles with six players; two of them, Laib and West, had three fouls. The Lady Eagles clawed back even closer as they outscored Mount Mary 19-11 in the fourth quarter. In the meantime, however, Rachel West would foul out and Madison Laib would pick up her fourth. Playing with four fouls, with seconds remaining, Laib would drive and score to tie the game up at 64 and force overtime.

Within the first minute of overtime, leading scorer Madison Laib would foul out. This left the Lady Eagles with five girls and Tiffany Hendriks entered the game for the first time. Emmaus would not throw in the towel as Hendriks came off the bench with high intensity on the defensive end and looked as if she had nerves of steel. "I was so proud of Tiffany. She has one of the hardest roles on the team in that she has to accept her role, but also be ready to play at any time. For anyone who has had that role, you know how important it is. The players who are in that position on a team are, to any coach, the most important. The culture of the team can depend on how they handle it. She's one of the hardest workers and always brings a great attitude no matter how many minutes she gets. Tiffany came off the bench ready rumble and take names, and it was a blessing to watch her play the last four minutes of overtime."

Even though Emmaus would go on to lose 69-71 in overtime, this game seemed to unite the girls and strengthen their bond. They fought back and learned to lean on one another. While Mount Mary shot an amazing 66 percent from the field in the second half including 100 percent from 3 point range, the Lady Eagles almost won the game amongst extreme adversity. Led by Madison Laib with 24 points and 8 rebounds, Rachel West with 13 points and 8 rebounds, and Marissa Kerttula with 7 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.