The Lady Cougars defeated Goessel Friday, 37-32, in overtime.

Playing on the road, the team failed to score more than 9 points in any quarter, but so did the Lady Bluebirds.

Trailing 9-6 after one quarter, Centre hung on in the second quarter to tie the game and take the lead, 13-11, at halftime.

The Lady Cougars came out strong after the break, holding Goessel to just 2 points while compiling 9. They led 22-13 at the end of the third quarter.

But just when it looked like Centre might have the game in the bag, the Lady Bluebirds came storming back in the fourth quarter. A 9-point unanswered run brought them within 2, and with a minute and a half remaining, a Goessel player sank a 3-pointer, and Centre trailed, 27-26.

Two free throws by Cacey Simons put Centre back on top but a Goessel free throw with two-tenths of a second left tied the game at 28-28 and sent it into overtime.

The Lady Cougars went to the free-throw line repeatedly during the overtime. Anna Weber, Simons, and Bryanna Svoboda made free throws and Shields made a layup to give Centre a 34-28 lead. After Ellie Miller made a free throw, Goessel made a free throw followed by a 3-point bucket to narrow the gap to 2 points.

A Goessel player narrowly missed completing a long 3-point shot with 10 seconds remaining, which would have given the Bluebirds the lead.

Shields made two free throws with three-tenths of a second remaining to give Centre a 5-point victory.

Shields led scoring with 13 points. Other scorers were Miller 9, Simons 8, Svoboda 4, Theo Kassebaum 2, and Weber 1.