FERRUM, Va. -- Ferrum College dropped a thriller at home in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action, falling 68-63 in overtime to Lees-McRae College tonight at Swartz Gym.

RECORDS
Lees-McRae 14-4, 10-2 CC
Ferrum 6-14, 4-8 CC

THE BASICS
Aleksandra Kubiak spotted the Panthers the early lead, draining a three-pointer. Lees-McRae answered with a 10-0 run to go out in front 10-3. Gracie Bean's three-pointer at 3:52 of the first quarter got the lead down to 12-8, but the Bobcats scored the next seven points to extend the lead to 19-8 at the 2:28 mark. Ferrum used a 6-0 run to close the quarter, getting the score down to 19-14 on two Allyson Cassell free throws, a Breyana Kimmons driving layup and a Cassell jumper off the glass to beat the buzzer.
 
Maslyn Mosbacher's layup off a pass from Kubiak trimmed the lead to 19-16 to open the second quarter. Back-to-back layups by Kubiak and Cassell got the score down to 23-21 at 4:07. Braelyn Stilwell and Kaylee Carson baskets widened the lead to 27-21. Ferrum's Sofia Ponce made two free throws, Cassell converted a layup and Gracie Bean made one of two free throws to make a 27-26 LMC lead at the break.
 
Mosbacher made a driving layup, then Kimmons dropped a 10-foot jumper to make it a 30-27 Ferrum lead to open the third quarter. Following a LMC three-pointer, Kimmons dropped a three-pointer from the left side, Mosbacher made a fast break layup to make it 35-30 Ferrum, Taryn Blankenship added a jumper less than a minute later and the Panther lead was 37-31 at 5:14.
 
Kubiak's wraparound layup made it a 39-33 Panther lead at 3:50. Carson had a jumper and a layup next for Lees-McRae and the lead was down to 39-37, but Erin Harden answered at the other end with a basket to keep Ferrum in front 41-37 with 1:10 left in the third. Cassell made a layup with 3.6 seconds left in the quarter to give Ferrum a 45-40 lead headed into the fourth.
 
Lees-McRae used an 11-2 run to open the fourth quarter and take a 51-47 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the game, then Mosbacher was fouled with just under two minutes remaining and made two free throws to make it 54-51. Kubiak hit a three-pointer with 22 seconds left to cut the lead to 59-56, then following a Panther steal, Kubiak had a put-back of a missed shot, then was fouled and made the ensuing free throw to tie the game at 59-59 and send it to overtime.  
 
Sofia Ponce made a free throw to open overtime and give Ferrum a 60-59 lead, but the Bobcats came back to take a 61-60 lead. Kubiak's three-pointer from the left side at 3:21 made it a 63-61 Ferrum lead, but the Bobcats tied it up with a bucket by Shayne Burton at 3:09. Carson was fouled and sank two free throws at 1:46, then Ferrum forced a shot clock violation with 33.8 seconds left and the Panthers trailing 65-63. Sandra Mason was fouled at 0:17 and made one of two free throws to make it a 66-63 score. The Bobcats held on from there for the league win.

KEY STATS
Lees-McRae: Carson 21 pts; Hairston 15 pts, 13 reb; Sandra Mason 12 pts
Ferrum: Kubiak 17 pts, 5 asst; Cassell 12 pts, 5 reb; Mosbacher 10 pts; Kimmons 9 pts, 11 reb

UP NEXT
Coach Bryan Harvey's team will be back in action Saturday, January 31, at Barton College. The game is set for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off, and will be the first half of a Conference Carolinas doubleheader in Wilson, North Carolina.