O'FALLON - With her first three-point basket of the game, senior Que Love became the 19th player in Edwardsville girls' basketball history to join the 1,000-point club.
With her last three-point basket, Love clinched the Tigers' 11th straight Southwestern Conference championship.
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In between, Love led the way with 18 points, while sophomore forward Sydney Harris hit for 16 points as Edwardsville won a thriller over O'Fallon 68-65 in overtime Tuesday night in a game played at the Panther Dome.
And it was a nip-and-tuck affair all evening, starting with Love's first basket of the game, a three with 6:04 left in the opening quarter that allowed her to hit the milestone. It was part of a first half that saw the Tigers take a 31-19 lead early in the second, as Love and Harris led the way.
Amelia Bell sparked a Panther rally in the third quarter, as she hit a three to make it 47-45, followed by a steal-and-score by Aubrey Mister with 2:52 left in the third that tied the game 47-47. The two then combined to score five points before the end of the period to give O'Fallon a 52-47 advantage after three.
The Tigers rallied early in the fourth, using an 8-2 run to take the lead back at 57-54 on Harris' three with 4:26 to go in regulation. The Panthers fought back again to tie it up 57-57, and later tied it up again on a Kayla Gordon basket with 3.1 seconds to go at 63-63 to force overtime.
Love hit a three with 1:46 left in the overtime to put Edwardsville up for good, then late in overtime nailed a pair of free throws with 8.8 seconds left to give the Tigers a 68-65 lead. The Panthers had one last chance, but a Shannon Dowell three missed at the buzzer to give Edwardsville the win and the SWC championship.
Besides Love and Harris, Maria Smith had nine points for the Tigers, while Kylie Burg hit for eight and Elle Evans for seven. Bell had a game-high 29 points for the Panthers, while Mister had 13 points and Gordon 10.
Edwardsville is now 24-1 on the season, 11-0 in the SWC, and finishes the regular season Thursday night at Alton in a 7:30 p.m. start. O'Fallon drops to 24-5 on the season.
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