BUCKHANNON – It was a game that got away from the West Virginia Wesleyan Lady Bobcats when they competed against the UVa.-Wise Cavaliers today in a Mountain East Conference contest at Rockefeller Center.

Wesleyan led by 12 at the half but ultimately wound up dropping an 80-76 double overtime decision.

The Lady Bobcats were down 13-12 after seven minutes of action, but Allie Browne made a three-pointer and Mari Stewart ran off six straight points for a 9-0 run.

That gave Wesleyan a 21-13 lead after one quarter of action.

Up by five, at 26-21, Wesleyan went on another 9-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game, at 14 points with 2:16 remaining in the first half.

Stewart fired in a three-pointer, Tara Goldman (pictured) and Brooke Richard both made lay-ups and Mykenzie Martin sank two free throws during the run.

That gave Wesleyan a 35-21 lead.

Wesleyan took a 38-26 lead into the intermission.

During the first six minutes of the third quarter, UVa.-Wise went on a 16-6 run to close their deficit to two, at 44-42

The Lady Bobcats though countered with a 10-0 run to return their lead to 12, at 54-42.

Goldman made a lay-up, Stewart hit a jumper, Rachel Vandertoolen dropped in two foul shots, Adrian Cunningham made a lay-up and Goldman scored two in the paint during the run.

UVa.-Wise hit a three-pointer to close the third quarter, making it a 54-45 contest heading into the final quarter.

UVa.-Wise outscored Wesleyan by a 17-2 margin in the fourth quarter to take a 62-56 lead with three minutes remaining.

Wesleyan scored the final six points of the fourth quarter with Stewart, Goldman, and Cunningham each hitting a basket to force an overtime session.

Scoring was at a premium in the first overtime as both teams scored just four points to push the game into a second overtime tied at 66-66.

Wesleyan scored the first four points of the second overtime with Goldman making four free throws to give the Lady 'Cats a 70-66 lead with three minutes left.

UVa.-Wise scored the next five points to take a 71-70 advantage, but Browne made a lay-up to return the lead to Wesleyan, at 72-71, with 2:09 remaining on the clock.

Wesleyan couldn't hold the lead during the final two minutes as UVa.-Wise closed the game on an 8-4 run.

Two Wesleyan players put together double-double games.

Stewart scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Goldman had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Cunningham scored 15 and Browne added 11.

The loss dropped Wesleyan to 5-15 overall and 3-14 in the MEC.

They will return to action Thursday when they visit Charleston for a 5:30 p.m. conference outing.

(Photo courtesy of Peter Galarneau Jr.)