Lax Sends Davidson to Sixth Straight Win With Game-Winning Three in OT

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Junior Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) sent the Wildcat faithful home in a frenzy when she drained a three-ball with 2.4 seconds remaining in overtime to send Davidson to its sixth straight win with a 78-77 decision over visiting Samford on Saturday night in women's basketball Southern Conference action.

In a battle of first and second place teams in the SoCon, Lax made sure the Wildcats (8-7, 6-1 SoCon) had first place all to themselves with a dramatic trey, the 100th of her career, as time was running out in overtime. The win helped push their home winning streak to five straight, and they have won eight of their last nine games overall.

Down 77-75 in overtime after two free throws by the Bulldogs' Emily London, Davidson, on a missed three-point attempt by the Bulldogs with 12 second remaining, called a quick timeout to set up an out of bounds play. Senior Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) inbounded the pass to Sophia Aleksandravicius (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) on the right block, where she then turned out to the right wing and fed Lax, who came all the way from the left corner off a screen, and the sharp-shooter squared up and rattled home the game-winner for the one-point victory.

Lax was one of four starters to score in double figures, the third straight game the Wildcats have accomplished the feat. She had 13 points, 12 of them from behind the arc, and had four rebounds and three assists.

Thompson paced the 'Cats with 22 points, the second time in the last three contests she has hit the 20-point mark, while Kristen Johnsen (Wayne, Pa.) poured in a career-high 17 points (12 in the first half) to go along with a career-best nine rebounds. Senior Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) rounded out the quartet with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Samford's London dropped in a school-record 35 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including hitting six of the Bulldogs' 13 treys, and going a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. She added five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

London single-handedly kept Samford (11-6, 5-3 SoCon) in the game in the second half after its coach was ejected with 8:11 left by scoring 21 of her 35 points. With Davidson leading 59-53 on a Paquette jumper at 7:37, London went on an 8-2 run of her own to tie things up at 61-all.

After a three-pointer by Hannah Dawson, who had 10 points on the evening, Thompson drilled a three-ball from the right wing and then gave the Wildcats a one-point lead on a pair of free throws at 67-66 with 1:16 on the clock. But, London came down and hit a trey for a 69-67 Bulldog lead and just eight seconds left in regulation.

Coming out a timeout, Davidson forced overtime when Johnsen got a feed from Thompson under the basket on an inbounds play and converted on the layup with six ticks on the clock.

Overtime saw Savannah Hill give the Bulldogs a 73-71 lead on a layup, but Paquette tied things up on a jumper in the paint with 1:44 left. Two free throws by Megan Wilderotter with 1:28 remaining pushed the Bulldog lead back to two, but Thompson came down on the Wildcats' next possession to tie the score again at 75-all with a driving layup.

The game was a back-and-forth affair all evening with 11 ties and 12 lead changes. The first half saw both teams take a lead on numerous occasions as there three ties and five lead changes. Samford had an 16-8 lead early, but Davidson went on a 9-0 to take a 17-16 advantage at the 10:25 mark.

The lead would later grow to five on a Lax trey at 24-19, but the Bulldogs, led by London's 10 points in a 12-3 run, closed out the half up 31-27.

Davidson will conclude its three-game homestand with a SoCon matchup against Chattanooga on Monday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m.

Game Notes: Davidson is in the midst of playing five games in a 10-day span, with tonight's game being No. 4 ... Davidson hit the 40-rebound mark for the sixth time this year ... both teams were on fire from downtown with Samford hitting 13-of-28 and Davidson going 9-of-19, a season-high for the Wildcats ... Thompson moved into 3rd place all-time in program history in made three-pointers with 143 after hitting 4-of-7 ... the five straight wins at home is the longest since a seven-game streak during the 2007-08 season and into the 2008-09 season ... the 'Cats six-game overall win streak is the longest since a 10-game run during the 2006-07 season ... head coach Annette Watts is just four SoCon wins away from reaching 100 for her career ... the win was Davidson's first against Samford, which joined the league last year ... the 6-1 start for Davidson in the SoCon is the second-best in program history after last year's 7-0 start.

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