CIRCLEVILLE, OHIO --
Brionna Sims scored 22 points, including a go-ahead bucket in the final minute of regulation, but Saint Mary-of-the-Woods was outscored 22-15 in overtime by Ohio Christian, falling by a score of 84-77 on Tuesday in River States Conference women's basketball game.
Sims, a midseason transfer from East Georgia State, posted a career-high performance for the Pomeroys, scoring 18 in the second half and overtime.
Kylee Stepp also posted a career-best performance, scoring 10 of her 15 points in the third quarter to help the Pomeroys rally from a 35-21 halftime deficit.
Stepp ripped the nets for 10 points during a 14-0 run for the Pomeroys in that third period as SMWC held OCU scoreless for three minutes, 55 seconds. Rachel Bolyard's 3-pointer put OCU ahead 44-40 to end the Trailblazers' drought. A Bolyard two-pointer and a 3-pointer by Hailey Cox made it an 8-0 answer for OCU.
Sims connected on a jumper and completed a 3-point play to close the third quarter on a 5-0 run to cut SMWC's deficit to 52-47 going into the fourth quarter.
The Pomeroys had one more strong run after a slow start to the fourth quarter. Sims scored once and
Brooklynn Jones, who finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals, connected for a pair of buckets to key a 11-2 run. The Pomeroys' surge was capped by a reverse layup by Sims to put SMWC ahead 61-60 with 43 seconds remaining.
Jones made 1 of 2 at the free-throw line, and OCU was able to force overtime with an open layup by Ashley Deweese at the buzzer.
In overtime, Stepp and Sims got the SMWC offense rolling again. Stepp hit a two-point jumper for a 65-64 SMWC lead.
Sims scored the next five Pomeroys' points, but SMWC was unable to string together stops. Deweese and Bolyard connected on 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to put OCU ahead 71-70 with 2:38 to go.
OCU took a 75-70 lead after two free throws by Bolyard, but the Pomeroys still had life after Sims putback her own miss to make it 75-72 with 1:06 remaining.
After two more Bolyard free throws, Jones converted in the paint to cut the deficit to 77-74. Bolyard missed the second of two free throws but Deweese pulled down the offensive rebound. An intentional foul on Sims prompted a technical foul on the SMWC bench. OCU made 4 of 6 at the foul line to extend its lead to 82-74. Stepp hit one more 3-pointer with 24 seconds left, but OCU held on for the win.
On the stat sheet, the Pomeroys (9-4, 2-4 RSC) shot 46.8 percent overall compared to 35.7 percent for OCU. But the Trailblazers hit 24 of 31 at the charity stripe and 10 of 31 from 3-point range. OCU made 16 of 20 at the foul line during the five-minute overtime period.
