The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball team lost its 2016-17 season opener in heartbreaking fashion on Tuesday night at Horst Athletic Center as Dickinson's Kassidy Lesher put home a rebound with 0.8 seconds remaining to give the Red Devils a 58-56 overtime victory over the Chargers. The victory moves Dickinson to 3-1 this season, while the Chargers are now 0-1.

How it Happened: The game was a close one for all 45 minutes as the teams battled back and forth. Freshman Caitlin Hickey's first three collegiate points came with 4:40 remaining in the first quarter as she gave Lancaster Bible its first lead of the game at 7-6. Later in the quarter, sophomore Courtney Goyak and senior Krissy Pennell converted back-to-back layups in the final minute to give the Chargers a 16-14 lead after 10 minutes. Dickinson's Mary Martin had 12 of Dickinson's first quarter points as the Red Devils trailed after one.

Both teams went cold to begin the second quarter as the Chargers didn't record their first bucket until 7:27 and the Red Devils didn't score in the first 4:09 of the quarter. Despite the cold stretches from each team, the game remained close, as the Chargers took a 24-20 lead on Hickey's second 3-pointer of the night with 3:26 to play in the second quarter. Sara Bell's free throws with 32 seconds left in the quarter gave Lancaster Bible a 29-22 lead, which they would take into halftime as well.

Lancaster Bible continued much of the play in the early parts of the third quarter and took its biggest lead with 3:22 remaining in the quarter at 42-31 after a layup from Kirsten Webster. From there however, Dickinson owned the third quarter as the Red Devils closed the quarter on a 10-0 run and trailed by just one, 42-41 after 30 minutes.

Dickinson continued its scoring run in the first 10 seconds of the fourth quarter as Mackenzie Skerritt gave the Red Devils the lead, 43-42 on a layup with 9:50 to go. Lancaster Bible finally stemmed the tide and after a three-point play from Webster, as well as free throws and a layup from Goyak, the Chargers earned back their lead at 49-43 with 7:32 to play. The Red Devils answered right back and Helen Roberts' 3-pointer with 5:01 left tied the game at 49-49. A jumper from senior Naomi Otis gave Lancaster Bible a 53-49 lead with 3:27 to play, but those would be the last points for the Chargers in regulation, as Dickinson tied the game at 53-53 with 2:20 left on a bucket from Martin. Both teams had chances down the stretch to score, but neither had the answer and the game went to overtime. 

Though there was little scoring in the overtime period, it was an exciting one, as both teams played good defense and took their time on each possession. After a layup from Goyak and a free throw from Webster tied the game at 56-56 with nine seconds remaining, Dickinson moved the ball to midcourt with its final timeout and drew up its final play. After a shot from Roberts would not go, Lesher pulled down the rebound and put the ball back up towards the hoop. The went through the net with 0.8 seconds remaining and Lancaster Bible's final heave was well short and the Red Devils escaped with the two-point victory.

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 41.7 percent (20-of-61) from the floor, while Dickinson shot 39.3 percent (23-of-66)...Goyak finished with 21 points and 20 rebounds in her Lancaster Bible debut, while Pennell and Hickey both had 10 points...Pennell added six assists as well, while Webster had nine points and seven boards...Martin had a game-high 23 points for the Red Devils and Lesher had a team-high 16 rebounds.

The Coach Says: "I was impressed with our start," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Katelyn Vanderhoff said. "I thought we played smart and played with composure. To only have five first-half turnovers is big for us and I thought all of the newcomers handled themselves well."

On Goyak: "She has tons of talent and a huge upside," Vanderhoff said. "She uses her body well and is a really smart post-player."

On Improvements: "We need to be disciplined enough to play an entire game the way we want to play it," Vanderhoff said. "I think we had too many peaks and valleys in the second half and need to play our type of game more often than playing the other team's game."

Information Hodge Podge: This was the first-ever meeting between the two teams...Both teams were picked fifth in their respective conference preseason polls...Goyak joins Shanice Smith as the only Lancaster Bible player in program history to record at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in the same game...The Chargers lost their season-opener last season to Albright, 84-66...This is the first regular season home loss for the Chargers since a 72-55 setback to Elizabethtown on January 13, 2014, a streak of 23 games.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible opens North Eastern Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, November 30 at Penn College...Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m.