ELGIN, IL - Overcoming an 18-point deficit and force overtime, Judson University (13-9) came from behind to hold onto a 73-67 win against Indiana University-Northwest (16-10). Judson was down 18 points, 51-33, with 11:52 left in the game and finished with a 29-11 run to tie the game at 62 and force overtime. In overtime, Judson scored the first five points as they finished with the six-point win. Judson's defense was the difference in the game, too, as they forced 33 turnovers and had 22 steals.

All five starters for Judson finished with double figures as Aubrey Parsons (Sterling, IL) and Kirstin Johns (Belvidere, IL) led Judson with 16 points. Kristi Siemers (Bensenville, IL) earned a career-high 15 points and was followed by Crystal Goodall's (Atlanta, GA) 13 points and Alicia Rovertoni's (Columbia, IL) 10 points. Rovertoni, 12^th in the NAIA in rebounding, grabbed 12 rebounds for her 17^th career double-double. Indiana-Northwest's Sharon Houston, who leads the NAIA in rebounding and is second in points, had 27 points and 24 rebounds in the loss.

As is looked like Indiana-Northwest was going to cruise to a win with just under 12 minutes left in the game, Judson's intensity was turned up a notch over the next seven minutes. Judson went on a 26-5 run in just over seven minutes to take a three-point lead, 59-56, with 4:17 left in the game. In the run, Judson forced five turnovers and made Indiana-Northwest miss eight shots. Parsons had seven of her 16 points in that run and was 5-of-6 from the stripe.

At the 2:52 mark, Indiana-Northwest's Nina Willis hit two free throws to take a one-point lead, 60-59. Then, 20 seconds later, teammate Jessica Jenkins banked a layup to extend the lead to three. With 1:15 left in the game, Kim Peek (Springdale, AR) made 1-of-2 from the foul line to make it a two-point game, 62-60. Johns tied the game just a second later when she grabbed Peeks missed second free throw and banked home a layup.

Judson stole the ball back from the Redhawks with 43 seconds left by missed a three-pointer 20 seconds later. Now, just 14 ticks left, Indiana-Northwest took a time out to set up the winning play but was denied by Judson's defense as the game went into overtime.

With not scoring in the first 1:07 of overtime, Judson finally scored the first points on Siemers' three-pointer to give Judson the advantage, 65-62. Then, 20 seconds later, Johns made two free throws for a five-point lead, 67-62. Indiana-Northwest made two free throws with 2:26 and then both offenses stalled for almost two minutes before Johns nailed a shot with 37 seconds left in the overtime period to make it 70-65. Judson stole the ball back with 29 seconds left and Parsons was fouled as she made one free throw for a six-point lead. Two more free throws by Parsons with 20 seconds left sealed the victory as she put Judson up by eight points, 73-65, before Indiana-Northwest made a basket with six seconds left. Prior to that bucket, Indiana-Northwest had not made a basket from the floor since the 3:13 mark.

Judson pushed the ball in the first eight minutes of the game taking a nine-point lead, 17-8. With 11:01 left in the first half, Judson was up, 19-10. In the next seven and half minutes, Indiana-Northwest went on an 18-2 run to stake a seven-point lead, 28-21. They went on to take a 10-point lead, 36-26, but only had a nine-point lead at the half, 38-29.

Overall, Judson did not shoot very well only hitting 33% of their shots and making just 20% from three-point range. They also shot 79% from the stripe. Indiana-Northwest, who was third in the nation in scoring defense (50.8), finished shooting 44% from the floor, 21% from three-point land, and 66% from the foul line. The Redhawks did out rebound Judson, 45-42.

With the win, Judson redeems a one-point loss from earlier in the season and records their 13^th win which is one better than last year's 12-17 record. They will now travel to Wisconsin to face Silver Lake College on Saturday, February 7^th, at 2:00 p.m.