#RV TLU Women’s Basketball Rallies For OT Win Over Ozarks In SCAC Quarterfinals

IRVING, Texas -- The #RV Texas Lutheran women's basketball team dug deep for an epic comeback win over Ozarks (AR), beating the third-seeded Eagles 63-55 in overtime to advance to their seventh straight SCAC Tournament semifinal. A heroic 22-point performance from TLU's Kailee Mulkey (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) was bolstered by gutsy play from the Bulldogs in the second half and overtime, outscoring the Eagles 39-23 over the second half and OT to improve to 21-4 overall. The Eagles finish their season 13-13 after taking their second loss of the season to the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs will now face the one-seed from the Blue Division, #21 Colorado College in the SCAC semifinals on Saturday at noon.

Texas Lutheran would lead for just 8:33 on Friday as the Eagles came out firing while the Bulldogs started Friday ice cold from the field. Despite 20 shots and forcing five turnovers in the first quarter, Texas Lutheran would trail 17-13 after the first 10 minutes - shooting 30 percent as a team for the period. Ozarks led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter as they were able to tread water with their lead as TLU's shooting woes continued in the second quarter. Ozarks carried a 32-24 lead into halftime as TLU shot 27.8 percent from the field over the opening 20 minutes of play.

Texas Lutheran came out of the locker room with a point to prove, digging their heels in to battle back and out score the Eagles 13-6 in the third quarter as neither team shot well in the quarter. A tug-of-war ensued throughout the fourth quarter as neither team could pull away. Sarahi Jones (Los Fresnos/Los Fresnos) hit a pair of clutch free throws with 30 seconds remaining to tie the game at 52 as the game would head to overtime.

Texas Lutheran saved their best for last, utilizing its patented stingy defense to limit Ozarks to no field goals in overtime, outscoring the Eagles 11-3 in overtime to claim the eight point win.

TLU finished the game shooting 28.4 percent overall but won the battle of the boards 59-43, including 24 offensive rebounds. Texas Lutheran was paced by a season-high 22-point, 11-rebound double-double from senior Kailee Mulkey who also added three assists and four steals. She was joined in double figures by Zaria Solis (Burnet/Burnet) who recorded her second career double-double in her SCAC Tournament debut with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Junior guard Angelina Sotelo (San Marcos/San Marcos) was the final Bulldog in double figures with 12 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. Sarahi Jones hauled in her eighth double-digit rebound performance, grabbing 10 rebounds in addition to her six points. Lauren Sansano (San Antonio/FEAST) dished out a team-high five assists to go along with six points.

Texas Lutheran and Colorado College will meet in the 2025 SCAC Semifinals in a rematch of the 2024 SCAC Tournament semifinals on Saturday at noon. The game will be streamed on FloSports. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.

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