Jacksonville, Florida-Trailing by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter, a furious comeback forced overtime and a solid effort in the extra frame sent Edward Waters to a hard fought 69-68 victory over Central State in the SIAC opener Saturday afternoon at the Adams-Jenkins Community Sports & Music Complex.

Edward Waters (2-2, 1-0 SIAC) was under siege early in the first quarter, ultimately falling in a six point hole at 17-11 at the end of the quarter. The second quater saw Central State (1-5, 0-1) add to their lead with a lot of their shots falling from three point range. Edward Waters whittled a nine point deficit down to as little as two points with :24 remaining, but a Marauder three-pointer with :03 remaining gave the visitors a five point, 33-28 lead at the half.

Quarter #3 was more of the same as with every shot the Lady Tigers made, Central State was up to the challenge, taking a 53-44 lead into the fourth quarter. The final quarter showed the resolve Edward Waters had in the contest. With CSU pushing their lead to double digits at 58-46 with 7:36 remaining. Edward Waters methodically chopped the deficit down to one at 61-60 with 2:31 remaining in regulation. A CSU jumper with 1:51 left gave the Marauders a three point lead but with :14 remaining, Tatum Hayes connected on a three-pointer to tie the contest up at 63-63. Central State nearly hit the go-ahead jumper at the buzzer, but it rimmed out sending the contest to overtime. 

Overtime belonged to the Lady Tigers, in particular the incredible play of Imani Harris, who scored all six of the Lady Tigers points in the extra session. Leading 69-68 with :03 remaining, Central State again had a chance to win the contest at the buzzer, but again, the attempt was no good, giving Edward Waters the one point home win and a solid start to SIAC play.

After a 23% shooting performance in the first quarter, Edward Waters responded shooting 44% in the fourth and 42% in overtime. For the game EWU hit 34% of their shots on 26-75 shooting, while Central State shot 38% on 27-71 shooting. EWU barely outrebounded CSU 49-46 in the contest but did enjoy a 20-15 edge on the offensive glass. Harris led all scorers in the contest, scoring 20 points off the EWU bench, while also adding six boards. Kayla Horton and Lee'Sha Henry both had 12 points in the contest, while Sha'Kawanza Brown, who made her return to the squad after missing all of 2022-23, contributed 11 points, four boards, four assists, and two steals.

Edward Waters continues their homestand with on Monday, November 25th with an SIAC matchup against Kentucky State. Tipoff is slated for 5:30pm at the Adams-Jenkins Complex.

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