WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lauren Fortescue scored a career-high 27 points and the Salisbury University women's basketball team overcame a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to knock off the William Smith Herons, 70-67 in overtime, for its seventh straight win on Monday night at Franny Murray Court. The game was played as part of the Jamie L. Roberts Classic, hosted by the Catholic University of America.

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams played a tight first quarter with the Herons taking an 8-6 lead on a Maddie Patrick jumper at the 4:35 mark. Over two minutes later the Sea Gulls tied it on a Hailey Ader putback layup. After trading baskets with a minute remaining in the period, Christina Mitrow connected on a jump shot to put WSC up 12-10 after the first 10-minute session.
• Brooke Jarvis, Olivia Parisi and Jarvis again hit three straight layups in the first two minutes of the second quarter to dig Salisbury into an 18-10 hole. Emily Dilger broke up the run with a jumper, but Jarvis knocked down a triple at the 7:10 mark to make it 21-12 WSC.
• Salisbury got back into it with a 9-2 run over the next four minutes. Lauren Fortescue and Kaylee Otlowski each hit two baskets over the run, including a three-pointer from Fortescue. The teams then traded blows through the rest of the quarter, and the Herons took a 31-27 lead into halftime after a pair of late free throws from Parisi.
• Neither side could find a rhythm in a low-scoring third quarter. With the Herons up 39-35 with 1:17 remaining in the third, Jarvis dropped in a layup and Mitrow converted a turnover into a jumper to build the WSC lead to 43-35 entering the final 10 minutes of regulation.
• Otlowski and Kylie Webb nailed back-to-back jumpers to open the fourth quarter, then Fortescue's second-chance bucket got Salisbury back within 43-41 with 7:59 to go. From there the Herons buckled down and threatened to put the game away. Parisi and Lauren Devaney converted three-point plays on consecutive possessions, sparking a 10-2 run that rebuilt the WSC lead to 53-43.
• Down 55-45 with 4:05 to go, Abby Wilkinson found Otlowski for an open jumper to get the Sea Gulls back on the board. From there Fortescue took over, laying in consecutive buckets and parlaying a steal into two free throws, cutting SU's 10-point deficit to just two at 55-53 in just 57 seconds. Both teams went cold for the next minute-and-a-half, then Fortescue went back to the line and sank both foul shots at the 1:21 to tie the game at 55-55.
• After several missed opportunities on both sides in the final minute, Devaney drew a foul with six seconds remaining and sank one-of-two at the line to put William Smith on top 56-55. On the ensuing SU possession Fortescue drew her own contact and sank the tying free throw but missed the go-ahead, and Parisi hauled in the rebound to give the Herons a chance to win it. Fortescue saved the day on the other end, though, stealing the ball from Parisi and sending the game to overtime tied 56-56.
• A back-and-forth extra period saw the Herons take a 65-64 lead at the 1:50 mark on a pair of free throws from Devaney. The Sea Gulls answered on their next possession as Ader fed Dilger for the go-ahead jumper that made it 66-65. Jada Welbon then swiped the ball from Kerstin Kelly and found a streaking Wilkinson for a fastbreak layup to put SU in the driver's seat with a 68-65 lead at the 1:22 mark.
• After both sides missed jumpers, Molly Walsh bricked the would-be tying three-pointer with 33 seconds left, with Fortescue hauling in the rebound and hitting one-of-two from the charity stripe to make it 69-65. Jarvis' jumper got it back to 69-67 with eight seconds left, but Welbon hit one-of-two free throws to make it 70-67 Salisbury, and Fortescue capped overtime with an encore steal of Jarvis to put it in the books.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Lauren Fortescue turned in a career day for the Sea Gulls, scoring a career-high 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting, plus 8-of-13 from the free throw line. Fortescue also swiped seven steals, hauled in six rebounds and dished out three assists in 38 minutes of action.
• Kaylee Otlowski notched her fourth double-double of the season and 26th of her Salisbury career with 12 points (6-of-15) and 12 rebounds, including four offensive boards.
• Jada Welbon netted nine points with five assists and five steals, including a key steal and assist in the final two minutes of overtime.
• Kylie Webb chipped in eight points, while Abby Wilkinson added six off the bench.
• Salisbury shot 39.2 percent (29-of-74) from the floor for the game but hit a season-low 44 percent (11-of-25) of their free throws.
• SU was outrebounded for the second time over its seven-game winning streak. William Smith won the battle on the glass 56-42, including 17-13 on the offensive end.
• The Sea Gulls were plus-14 in the turnover margin, forcing 30 Heron giveaways. Fortescue and Welbon combined for 12 of Salisbury's 16 steals on the night.
• Salisbury's seven-game winning streak is its longest single-season run since the 2014-15 season. That year the Sea Gulls rattled off winning streaks of nine and 13 games on the way to a 28-3 record and a berth in the NCAA Sectional Finals.
• The game was the first overtime contest for SU since Feb. 9, 2019, when the Sea Gulls lost at home to Southern Virginia, 69-60. Salisbury's last overtime win was Dec. 30, 2017, a 66-62 victory over Millsaps at the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tenn.

WILLIAM SMITH GAME NOTES

• Brooke Jarvis matched Fortescue with 27 points (12-of-22) and hauled in 15 rebounds for a double-double.
• Lauren DeVaney became the second Heron with a double-double in the game, netting 15 points with 13 boards.
• Olivia Parisi added nine points, six rebounds and three assists for WSC.
• The Herons connected on 37.3 percent (25-of-67) of their field goal attempts and went 16-of-23 (69.6 percent) from the charity stripe.
• Neither side shot the ball well from distance, with WSC going 1-of-13 from three-point range. The teams combined to go 2-of-22 (9.1 percent) from deep.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls wrap up their time at the Jamie L. Roberts Classic on Tuesday with a matchup against Pfeiffer University.
• Tipoff from Franny Murray Court is slated for 4 p.m.

Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 186 conference championships and 41 Academic All-Americans.

To learn more about the tradition of excellence with Sea Gull Athletics, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.