The Women’s basketball team topped Dayton in triple overtime Wednesday morning in front of a crowd of over 6,000 elementary and middle school students on Education Day. With the win over second place Dayton, the Billikens move to 3-3 on the year in the A-10 and moved to 8-11 overall.

        SLU won the tip and freshman Evan Zars put the Billikens on top right away with a shot from behind the arc for three. After the first quarter, SLU was up by two, leading 21-19. A tie at 21 in the opening moments of the second quarter was the only time in the game until the fourth quarter that SLU wasn’t leading.

        In the third quarter, the Billikens took their largest lead of the game at 44-33 with just under three minutes to play. To end the third, Dayton went on a 5-1 run which extended into the four into a 10-1 run to come within two. The Flyers were down two with 16.1 remaining when freshman Brooke Flowers stuffed Dayton’s leading scorer, Jayla Scaife, to keep the lead. With just 3.3 seconds remaining in regulation, Dayton hit a layup to tie the game, 50-50, sending the game to overtime.

        Freshman Ciaja Harbison opened overtime with a quick layup after the Billikens won the tip. The Billikens held the Flyers scoreless until they converted a free throw late in the period. SLU was leading 52-51 with 44.5 seconds remaining in the first overtime. Dayton was able to score a layup to take the lead with 18 seconds remaining. In a last-ditch effort to take the lead, Harbison was fouled and sent to the charity stripe with two shots to take the game. She made the first but missed the second to keep the game tied at 53.

        Again, the Billikens won the tip-off in the second overtime, but turned the ball over twice early, giving the Flyers the chance to go up five points to make the score 58-53. A pair of Dayton turnovers opened the door for SLU to close the gap, and again, when the buzzer sounded, the game was tied.

        For the first time in SLU basketball history, a game was going into triple overtime.

        SLU won the tip in the third, but just like the second, turned the ball over quickly. Fatigue set in, and showed, as both teams turned the ball over until Harbison was fouled on two consecutive plays and converted all four of her opportunities from the line giving the Billikens a four-point lead. A Dayton air ball, followed by a SLU foul kept the score at 62-58 with under two minutes to play. The Flyers started desperation fouling giving the Billikens more opportunities to put the game away. The score stayed close but SLU was able to hold on 68-65 for the historic win.

        The women head to Richmond, Va. to play A-10 leading VCU before returning to Chaifetz Arena on Jan. 31 to take on George Mason.