The Lady Raiders rallied to take an 87-84 win in overtime against the Crowder Lady Roughriders in Neosho.  

Three Rivers (24-5, 9-3 Region XVI) took a 26-19 lead in the second quarter, but the hosts closed the half on a 19-5 run and took a 38-31 lead to the locker room.

The Lady Raiders trailed 61-53 going to the fourth quarter, but chipped away throughout the final period and tied the game at 79 on a Da'Naya Ross basket to force the extra session. TRC then outscored the Lady Roughriders 8-5 in OT to pull out the win.

"I thought the girls did a good job," Three Rivers women's coach Alex Wiggs said. "We started off the game strong and were actually playing well, but we had about five girls get two fouls each and it messed up our flow and our rhythm in the first half. … We came out the second half and didn't really have a flow going and didn't really have a routine going, but they did a great job of responding, of continuing to play and just finding a way to win on the road."

Ross stepped up in a big way at Crowder, scoring 37 points and collecting 11 rebounds to lead the Lady Raiders.

"She's stepped up with Amelia being out," Wiggs said. "She made some big-time baskets and made some tough baskets for us. I'm really proud of the way that she battled and got things done."

Samyah Jordan added 18 points, while Jordan Blake had eight and Kiera Neal finished with six points and 10 rebounds. Ross and Neal also had two steals apiece, while Jordan added six rebounds.

Three Rivers is off until next Tuesday, when it hosts Mineral Area College (16-12, 4-8) in the Region XVI semifinals at the Libla Family Sports Complex. MAC won its last two regular-season games to overtake Crowder (17-12, 4-8) for the third seed in the region tournament.

"They've got the momentum as well heading into the playoffs as far as two huge wins," Wiggs said. "We've just got to make sure that we get ready to go for Mineral Area."

Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic