Senior guard/ forward Abbey Lawrence led five Case Western Reserve University women's basketball players in double figures with a game-high 24 points, as the Spartans bested Washington University (Mo.) 93-89 in overtime on Sunday afternoon at Horsburgh Gymnasium.

With the win, the Spartans improved to 7-11 overall with a 2-5 University Athletic Association record, while the Bears fell to 10-8 overall and to 4-3 in the conference. It was the Spartans' second-straight win against WashU in Cleveland, and just the third win all-time for CWRU against the Bears.

Lawrence was an efficient five-of-seven from the floor during the game, including two-of-two from three-point range, while scoring half of her points from the free throw line, where she connected on 12-of-13 attempts. Junior guard/forward Isabella Mills scored 20 points with five rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals, and sophomore forward Kayla Characklis finished the game with 15 points and six rebounds. Junior guard McKenna Gross and sophomore forward Preet Gill each scored 12 points on Sunday.

In addition, first-year forward Evie Miller, who made the first start of her career on Sunday, matched her own program record with seven blocked shots against the Bears, and now has 22 blocked shots in her last four games. She added four points and a team-high six rebounds in the game.

Characklis scored the first six points of the game, and a three-pointer by Lawrence with 6:09 left in the first quarter put the Spartans in front 9-0. However, the Bears battled back to knot the score at 13-13 with 3:48 left in the quarter. WashU would take a three-point lead later in the period, but a buzzer-beating jumper by Gill as time expired in the frame put the Spartans ahead 23-22 going into the second quarter. A 9-2 run to start the period, capped off by a traditional three-point play by Lawrence, put the Spartans ahead by eight, 32-24, with 8:16 to go in the period, and threes by Mills and first-year forward Lucy Vanderbeck helped the Spartans take a 40-29 lead with 4:57 to play in the half. But, the Bears connected on four threes over the final five minutes of the half and finished the period on a 19-5 run to take a 48-45 lead into halftime.

A layup by Gross and a free throw from sophomore guard Sarah Mitchell helped the Spartans regain the lead, 51-50 with four minutes left in the third. The teams continued to go back-and-forth, and entered the final period tied at 63-63. A layup by sophomore guard Margaret Terry with 8:53 left in regulation gave the Spartans a lead they would hold until the closing seconds of regulation. CWRU went ahead by seven, 82-75, with 30 seconds remaining, but were hurt by a turnover and a pair of missed free throws down the stretch, opening the door for the Bears, who took advantage, pulling within two with 11 seconds left, before Maya Arnott tied the game at 82-82 with a jumper as time expired to send the game into overtime.

The Spartans never trailed in overtime and led by as many as five during the extra frame, going ahead 88-83 on a pair of free throws by Mills with 2:35 left. WashU once again had an answer, tying the game at 89-89 with 54 seconds left. However, Lawrence hit a pair of free throws to put CWRU back ahead with 43 seconds to go, and on the next Bears possession, both Miller and Mills had blocks for the Spartans and Gross stole the ball away with nine seconds left. After Gross was fouled, she connected on both free throws to put CWRU up by four and seal the victory.

CWRU finished the game shooting 46.2% overall (30-of-65) and 28.6% (six-of-21) from three-point range, while WashU shot 38.1% overall (32-of-84) and 40.7% (11-of-27) from long range. The Spartans forced the Bears into 15 turnovers and outscored WashU 25-12 off turnovers in the game.

Case Western Reserve will be back in action next weekend, as the team travels to face the University of Chicago on Friday and Washington on Sunday.