St. Edward edges Elgin in double OT
St. Edward began a second overtime against Elgin with two starters on the bench. But the Green Wave still had Samantha Ottinger on the floor.
The senior guard scored 8 of the Wave's 11 points in the second extra period to lead St. Edward past the Maroons, 62-56, at Chesbrough Field House.
Ottinger finished with a game-high 24 points as St. Edward won its second straight game at the Elgin City Classic Girls Tournament.
Mia Castro added 18 points off the bench for the Wave (9-12 overall), including a tying 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in the first overtime.
Elgin's Dajha Cooper narrowly missed her second triple-double in 3 nights, finishing with 19 points, 22 rebounds, and 7 blocked shots.
Sarah Moskow and Kamiya Harvey added 10 points apiece for Elgin.
St. Edward led 41-29 on Ottinger's transition layup to open the fourth quarter, but the hosts outscored the Wave 12-2 the rest of the way, finally tying the game on Cooper's free throw with 32 seconds left.
The Green Wave opened a 5-point lead in the first extra session only to watch Elgin score 8 in a row to go up 3 before Castro's shot forced the second OT.
Ottinger hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring in the second overtime. After the teams traded free throws, Ottinger's second 3 made it 58-53.
Elgin got as close as 59-55 on Harvey's layup but could get no closer. Ottinger and Madalynn Duffy combined for 3 free throws in the closing minutes to keep Elgin at bay.
The Wave finished the game without Madeline Ellsworth, who fouled out, and Brooke Biggins, who left with an injury in the second quarter.
"These girls came up huge," said St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson. "With Maddie (Ellsworth) and Brooke (Biggins) on the bench, we had girls put into positions on the court that they haven't had to be in all year. Sam's consistent for us, Mia's really consistent for us, but down the stretch to hit those baskets was huge. I'm really proud of my girls for keeping their composure tonight."
"We started to run a little bit low on gas," said Elgin assistant Scott Stewart. "We started missing some free throws and that was the difference in the game. It's hard to win a double overtime game when you miss 11 free throws. But hey, the effort was awesome, I thought that everybody from the starters all the way to the end of the bench played a great game. Tons of energy, we improved on a lot of things."
Sabrina Chen added 8 points for Elgin. Moskow had 17 rebounds and Emily Graves added 7 points and 13 boards.
Ellsworth scored 8 points for St. Edward before fouling out. Hailey Niehaus grabbed 10 rebounds for the Wave.