THOUSAND OAKS, CA — Jazzlyn Johnson and Dejanee Gill went off, the Leopards rallied in the fourth quarter to erase a late 10-point deficit late, and the University of La Verne women's basketball team picked up a critical overtime win at Cal Lutheran, defeating the Regals 92-89.

Season Impact

With the win, the Leopards improve to 11-4 overall and hold onto fourth place in the SCIAC with a 4-3 conference record. La Verne currently sits a half-game in front of the 4-4 Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens. Cal Lutheran drops to 6-10 overall and 3-5 in the SCIAC.

Stat Leaders

Johnson came off the bench and scored a game-high 27 points with eight coming in the fourth quarter to help lead the Leopards' comeback. The sophomore did damage at the free-throw line, scoring 11 of her point from the stripe. The point guard added five rebounds and two assists with just one turnover.

Gill scored a career-high 23 points in the win off 8-14 shooting from the floor with four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. Gil scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and overtime alone.

How It Happened

Trailing 82-72 with just over four minutes remaining, Gill drove to the basket and made a contested, off-balance layup to get the Leopards within single digits of the Regals' lead.

Johnson continued the run with a layup of her own on La Verne's next possession, and Gill made it a two-point game after sinking back-to-back layups. Johnson made a pair of free throws with 1:24 left to play to even the score 82-82 and send the game to overtime

Alondra Ponce drained a three on the Leopards' first possession of the extra period to give her squad the edge. Ponce finished with 12 points, four rebounds, and a steal.

La Verne held the advantage for most of the period until Cal Lutheran's Haley Tyrell made a put-back layup to tie the game 89-89 with just 43 seconds left on the clock.

But the Leopards jumped back on top on their next possession when Johnson was fouled when she drove to the basket and made the ensuing free throw. La Verne got a big stop on the defensive end, and Gill added two more free throws to seal the win.

Destinee Garcia had an outstanding game off the boards, grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds to go with nine points. Brittany McDaniel added nine points and four rebounds off the bench.

The Regals were led by Tyrell's 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Next Game

The Leopards hit the road this Saturday when they travel to Redlands to take on the first place Bulldogs at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs, who currently boast an 8-0 SCIAC record, just edged the Leopards 73-67 in their first meeting this season.