Boxscore

The University of La Verne managed to overcome a second half rally and a game-tying, buzzer-beating shot by Trinity University to eventually pull out a thrilling 114-109 overtime triumph over the visiting Tigers in women's basketball Saturday afternoon at Frantz Athletic Court.

After the Trinity's Hannah Coley stroked a three-point field goal at the horn to send the game into overtime, the Leopards would prevail down the stretch by scoring the game's final six points en route to victory.

Down 109-108, Lindsey Foster put La Verne up for good on a layup with 25 seconds remaining.  After the Leopards forced a Tiger turnover, Amanda Copas hit a pair of free throws for a 112-109 advantage with 17 seconds left to play.  A game-tying three-point attempt from Murphy Burns with eight seconds left was off the mark, and Riki Murakami would later connect on two free throws to help secure the win.

"What I'm most proud about is that our players battled and were able to finish," said head coach Matt Rogers.  "I think we showed remarkable resiliency throughout the game despite the fact that we weren't at full strength.  We displayed a tremendous effort and strong commitment to each other."

The Leopards led 98-95 with 2.1 seconds left before Coley's three-pointer from the corner forced an extra session.

Trinity trailed the Leopards 53-37 at the half and were down by as many as 18 points before staging a comeback in the second half.   The Tigers finally caught the Leopards on a jumper from Burns to knot the contest 85-85, but La Verne responded with consecutive field goals from Amanda Copas and Emily Myers to reclaim the lead at 89-85 with 2:38 to play.

Leslie Steele hit a three-pointer to stretch the lead to 92-87 before the Tigers scored on their next two possessions to pull within a point at 92-91.  The teams each made a pair of field goals before Murakami hit a pair of free throws for a three-point La Verne lead of 98-95 with 11 seconds to play.

In the first half, La Verne trailed 24-19 before scoring 13 unanswered points to grab a 32-24 lead.  Leading 38-32, the Leos closed out the half with a 15-5 spurt in the final 3:45 to enjoy a 16-point cushion at the break.  Megan Musashi paced the Leopard offense with 14 points during the first 20 minutes of action.

For the game, La Verne connected on 15 treys led by Musashi with five on her way to a career-high 28 point outing.  Musashi also finished with a 7-8 effort from the free throw line.  Copas totaled 20 points. 

Foster collected a double-double of 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds while Murakami (13) and Lina Arreola (10) also reached double figures in scoring the Leopards as the squad posted triple-digits for the second consecutive game.

Burns led Trinity (4-2) with a game-high 31 points, finishing 13-26 from the field.  Annie Waidelich added 18 points with Coley finishing with 15 for the Tigers.  Libby Kruse (12) and Taylor Hollins combined for 22 rebounds in the loss.   Trinity pulled a total of 71 rebounds on the game.

La Verne (4-3) returns to action on Tuesday night as it plays host to Hanover in a 7:30 pm start at Frantz Athletic Court.