Farmville, Va. - Gardner-Webb senior forward Margaret Roundtree eclipsed the 1,000th career point plateau, as junior guard Courtney Epps made two free throws with less than a second left on the clock to force the game into overtime where the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Morehead State Eagles 14-4 to defeat the Eagles 75-65 in the first game of the Lancer Classic.

With the win, the Lady Bulldogs move to 5-1 on the season, while Morehead State falls to 3-3 on the year with the loss. The win was the Lady Bulldogs first ever win over Morehead State, moving the all-time series to 1-3.

In the first half, the Lady Bulldogs were efficient on both ends of the floor, shooting the ball well on the offensive end and making the Eagles work hard for shots on the defensive end. Offensively, Gardner-Webb was 13-of-25, 52 percent, including going 2-of-4 from behind the three-point arc, helping them to stay in front for the entire first 20 minutes of play.

On the defensive end, GWU clamped down on the up-tempo and outside shooting Eagles, holding Morehead State to 24.2 percent shooting from the floor, including holding the Eagles to only four points in the final six minutes of the first half, giving Gardner-Webb a 30-24 lead at the break.

In the second half the Eagles got hot on the offensive end, as the Lady Bulldogs couldn't pull away from the Eagles, as Morehead State tied the score up for the third time on a Chynna Bozeman jumper, knotting the score up at 36-36 with 14:57 to go in the game.

However, GWU had an answer as Roundtree hit a three-pointer on the next GWU possession to spark a 6-0 Lady Bulldog run to pull out to a 42-36 lead.

Again Roundtree came up big for the Lady Bulldogs in the second half, hitting two free throws to push the Lady Bulldogs lead to nine at 53-42 with 6:19 to play.

Yet like all game long, the Eagles refused to go away, as Morehead State outscored Gardner-Webb 17-6 over the next five minutes of play, to tie the score up at 59-59 with 1:50 remaining in regulation.

The two teams then struggled to score from the floor in the final 1:40 to play, as Morehead State took its first lead of the game on an 18-foot baseline jumper from Deja Watson, putting the Eagles up 61-59 with only seven seconds on the game clock.

Gardner-Webb's Dominique Hudson brought the ball up the court and look to drive toward the basket. When the line was cut off by the Eagles' defenders, Hudson tried to kick the ball out to Epps on the right wing. However, the ball was tipped causing a loose ball in front of Epps, as the guard and an Eagles' player fell on the floor after the loose ball, where a foul was called on Morehead State with on 0.3 of a second left in the game.

Epps calmly stepped up to the free throw line and sank both of her free throws to knot the score up at 61-61 with only 0.3 seconds left, forcing the game into overtime.

Epps hot hand continued in the overtime period, as the junior guard scored 10 of the Lady Bulldogs 14 points in the extra period, as Gardner-Webb took over the game in the extra five minutes of play, going 5-of-5 from the floor and outscoring Morehead State 14-4 to come away with the 75-65 win.

The junior backcourt of Epps and Dominique Hudson led the way, as the two scored 19 points apiece. Roundtree poured in 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half, while redshirt-junior Sandra Vaitkute had 10 points and 10 rebounds for her third straight double-double. Junior forward LaTroya Pope was a beast on the boards for Coach Reeves' squad, as she hauled in 13 rebounds, a game-high.

Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year Chynna Bozeman led the Eagles with 23 points, going 4-of-14 from behind the three-point line, while fellow backcourt running mate Tiffany Hamilton had 18 points.

Gardner-Webb will return to action tomorrow afternoon, as the Lady Bulldogs will take on Texas-Pan American on day two of the Lancer Classic. Tip-off is slated for noon eastern time.

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