Women’s basketball tops North Alabama 90-87 in OT to advance to ASUN title game

No. 2 seed North Alabama erased a 17-point second-half deficit to force overtime and then led by four during the extra session of Wednesday’s ASUN Women’s Basketball Championship semifinal at Flowers Hall. No. 3 seed Liberty then got the last laugh, closing the contest with a 9-2 run to pull out a 90-87 overtime victory and advance to the ASUN title game for the second straight year.

Emily Lytle scored a game-high 22 points for Liberty (20-11), including the go-ahead three-point play with 35.6 seconds remaining and two crucial free throws at the 13.6-second mark. After recording their eighth straight win, the Lady Flames will travel to No. 1 seed FGCU (30-3) for Sunday’s title game at 3 p.m. at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla. The nationally No. 24-ranked Eagles topped No. 5 seed North Florida 73-57 in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

North Alabama (21-9), which had defeated Liberty twice during the regular season, with one of the victories coming in overtime, missed five of its last six field goals after taking an 85-81 lead with 1:40 to play in the extra session. The Lions had forced overtime with a Jaida Bond layup with 20.8 seconds remaining in regulation, completing a furious rally from a 63-46 deficit with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter.

For the second straight season, No. 3 seed Liberty will travel to Fort Myers, Fla., for the ASUN Women’s Basketball Championship title game at No. 1 seed FGCU (30-3). Tipoff is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. inside Alico Arena.

FGCU defeated the Lady Flames 72-49 during last season’s championship game. The Eagles beat Liberty twice during the regular season, prevailing 64-57 in Fort Myers on Jan. 6 and 74-65 in Lynchburg on Feb. 1.

This will mark the first time the same two teams have squared off in the ASUN Women’s Basketball Championship title game in back-to-back seasons since FGCU and Stetson squared off three straight years (2012-14).

Follow the team at LibertyFlames.com.