ACU Tops Texas Woman's in 4-OT Game

Updated 8:54 AM CST, Tue, Jan 6, 2009

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Ian McKinnell

Jamie Meyer scored 49 points to help Abilene Christian overcome a 63-point effort by Renee Renz and beat Texas Woman's 147-143 in quadruple overtime on Monday night in a record-setting game.

The Division II schools combined to break the NCAA record for points in a game of 261 set by St. Joseph's (Ind.) and Northern Kentucky in 1988. The 143 points by Texas Woman's broke the NCAA record for most points by the losing team. The 112 points the two teams scored in the overtimes also was an NCAA record as was Abilene Christian's 58 in overtime.

"It was one of those games you hate for either team to lose because both teams had nothing left at the end of the game," Abilene Christian coach Shawna Lavender said. "We just caught some breaks late and had some key block outs. I'm proud of them for hanging in there."

Renz did all she could, setting a Lone Star Conference-record 63 points. Her total equaled the third most ever in Divsion II history and easily eclipsed the school record of 42 set by Peggy Allen in 1989.

Renz was 22-of-36 from the field and 15-of-17 from the free throw line. She also had 15 rebounds.

"I was just doing everything I could to keep us in the game," said Renz in a postgame interview. "I knew I was playing well, but I honestly had no idea that I was scoring that many points. We really wanted to beat this team (ACU) and I was giving it everything I had."

It wasn't Lavender's first four overtime thriller. She scored 42 points for SMU when the Mustangs beat TCU 127-125 in 1997.

Meyer hit 22-of-30 from the field and all four of her free throws. She also had 14 rebounds and two blocked shots. Kristee Davidson came off the bench to play 54 minutes and scored 28 points.

Audrey Maxwell-Lively, Abilene Christian's leading scorer, fouled out in the first overtime, finishing with 18 points and Kelsey Darby scored 15.

Tiandrea Dixon had 23 points and 12 assists for Texas Woman's (7-4). Megan Hashman added 17, including a jumper with 38 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 89. Maxwell-Lively missed a jumper as time ran out.

Renz hit a free throw to tie it at 102-102 with 22 seconds left in the first overtime. Hashman kept it going again in the second overtime with a jumper to tie the game at 118-118. The Wildcats had chances at the end of the first two overtimes to win but couldn't get their shots to fall. Jessica Hanna's jumper as time ran out in the third overtime kept Texas Woman's in the game.

Renz tied the game at 139-139 with 1:10 left in the fourth overtime, but Abilene Christian (8-4) used an 8-4 run to win the game.

Lavender said there were two keys to the win after Maxwell-Lively fouled out. "(Jody) Meyer's defense on Renz in the overtime and Jamie (Meyer) just seemed to hit every shot she took."