LaMyah Ricks had just missed two free throws with 5.5 seconds left in a tied game between Kansas Wesleyan and Evangel inside Mabee Arena, but KWU head coach Ryan Showman was not at all disappointed in his senior guard’s effort.

Ricks scored the first two points of the extra period sparking KWU’s 10-1 run to open overtime as the Coyotes came away with the 78-66 win in overtime.

“I loved the approach that we had going into overtime. There was no panic. There’s no fear,” Showman said. “LaMyah is such a reliable player, everybody in in the Midwest knows that.

“I didn’t want anybody else on the line in that moment. It might have been the way things happened, the ball didn’t bounce our way. But she came back with that next play mentality that we talk about so often and she really controlled that overtime and help lead us to victory.”

Back-to-back triples by Jill Stephens around a free throw by Evangel pushed Wesleyan’s overtime lead out to seven points and a bucket by Angel Lee made it a 10-1 run, giving KWU a 73-64 lead with 1:32 left.

Free throws by Ricks with 36 seconds left capped the scoring, giving KWU the 12-point win.

Wesleyan found itself down by two with 25 seconds left on an Evangel free throw, but Ricks scored it with 13 ticks left to tie things up. An Evangel turnover gave the ball back to the Coyotes with nine seconds left, and Ricks was fouled, but was unable to connect on either foul shot.

The Coyotes got off to a rough start, trailing 26-15 after a quarter, but bounced back with a huge second.

A 10-0 run to start the second got the Coyotes back within a point at 26-25 with 5:11 left on Catherine Bowman’s bucket, and Brooke Strine’s score with 4:09 left gave the Coyotes the lead at 29-28. The Coyotes kept the pressure on, extending the lead out to 42-33 with 28 seconds left before the half on a 3-point by Ricks.

“This was a win we needed to have for a number of different reasons,” Showman said. “Not only did we need it for the standings, we needed this for us.

“We have played a really tough non-conference schedule. We’ve had our ups and downs in terms of that brutal schedule and I thought we didn’t play as well as we know we’re capable of on Wednesday and so to come back at home against a really good Evangel team, they’re gonna keep getting better, they’re gonna win some games. This was a game we needed to get. I’m just so happy for that team in that locker room because they deserve this.”

Evangel got within three in the third quarter at 49-46 with 3:57 left but the Coyotes pushed the lead back out to eight on Angel Lee’s 3-point play that made it 54-46 with 2:53 to go.

The Coyotes led 54-50 at three-quarter time.

Evangel tied it at 54 in the fourth, and again at 56, but a Ricks triple gave the Coyotes a 59-56 lead with 4:04 left.
Ricks led all scorers with 26 points and was one of three players in double figures along with Stephens with 14 and Lee with 13. KWU was 25 of 65 shooting for 38.5 percent for the game, but shot 56.5 percent in the first half (13 of 23) but were just 12 of 42 in the second half and overtime (28.6 percent). Lee pulled down eight rebounds while Hampton Williams had seven.

The Coyotes get an 11-day break for Thanksgiving before hitting the hardwood again next Wednesday in McPherson, taking on the Bulldogs at 6 p.m. at the Sport Center. McPherson lost to Friends 79-48 on Saturday night.