Lynchburg, Va. -- It took six frames for the University of Lynchburg women's basketball team to get by ODAC rival Randolph-Macon 69-63 Wednesday night in Turner Gymnasium in a thrilling battle to open the new year.

Sophomore guard Brooke Cason played 45 of 50 possible minutes and led the way for the Hornets with a night of career-highs, resetting season bests in every statistical category but assists. 

Cason led Lynchburg in scoring with a career-best 19 that was generated mostly in part by a career-best six three-pointers. All 14 of her field goal attempts were from deep as she made a large contribution to Lynchburg's season-most 36 three-point attempts as a team.

Cason was joined by three other Hornets in double-figures as Sayre Brandstatter (15), Sammi Sever (11), and Olivia Harris (11) each enjoyed successful offensive outings.

Brandstatter joined Cason with 45 minutes played and stuffed the stat sheet once again to the tune of six boards and four assists to go with her 15 points. She has scored 10 or more in five of the past six outings and is averaging 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on 51.7% shooting over that span.

After jumping out to an early lead, Lynchburg surrendered the advantage with 3:54 remaining in the first quarter, trailing by as many as 11 and playing over 19 minutes of game time from behind.

Despite putting together a 10-0 run to tie it up in the third quarter, the Hornets trailed at the end of the first, second, and third frames and entered the fourth down by four.

Cason netted a triple to tie the game once more at 50 with 3:18 remaining and Olivia Harris converted a layup to once again tie the score at 54 with just 18 ticks remaining in regulation. That score would hold the rest of the way to set up the first of two overtime periods.

Lynchburg took its first lead since the first quarter on a Brandstatter free throw with 1:57 left in the first overtime. All five of Lynchburg's points in the frame came at the charity stripe.

One overtime was not enough, as the two teams saw themselves deadlocked once again, this time at 59, to earn a second overtime period.

Lynchburg took a lead at 62-61 with 3:07 remaining that it would never surrender en route to its first win over the Yellow Jackets since February 5, 2022, ending a three-game skid in the series.

Sever got out in transition on a one-on-one fast break, losing her defender on a behind-the-back dribble that she converted into a layup.

The basket was set up by a Cason steal that was one of a career-high five for her and 13 for the team. Lynchburg scored 24 points off of 26 Randolph-Macon turnovers.

Several possessions later, Olivia Harris put the finishing touches on an impressive win, completing a running layup with a left-handed scoop to secure her third-straight game in double-figures and put Lynchburg up by four with just 18 seconds remaining.

When the final buzzer sounded, Lynchburg had secured its third win of the season after trailing entering the fourth quarter and extended its win streak to three, the longest since a four-game heater in February of 2022.

Lynchburg continued its sound passing, dishing out 15 assists in the game. The Hornets are assisting on 72% of made field goals and averaging 21.7 assists per game during the current win streak.

Cason's six threes led the way for 11 total as Lynchburg eclipsed the 10-make threshold for trifectas for the fifth time this season and third consecutive game.

Lynchburg (7-6, 2-5 ODAC) will travel to Fredericksburg, Va. to take on Mary Washington Friday, January 5 at 6 p.m. to round out the nonconference portion of the schedule.

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--LYN--