The University girls entered Saturday afternoon’s game at Lebanon having won all 18 of their contests this season, having never trailed in the second half of any game. That changed during Saturday’s game as with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter Saturday, the upstart Tigers held a 36-28 lead.
How did the second-ranked Class 2A Trailblazers respond? University held Lebanon scoreless for the next 12 minutes and scored the next 26 points of the game to record a 62-39 win.
Senior Lindsey Syrek had the fourth triple double of her career with 18 points, 19 rebounds and ten blocked shots. Senior guard Maddi Sears had 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Freshmen Kelsey DuBois (10 points, nine rebounds) and Payton Seay (five points, 10 rebounds) helped University control the glass.
Freshman Jordan Patterson started University’s comeback with a baseline jumper with 2:27 remaining. Syrek made a pair of foul shots and DuBois added a basket with 24 seconds left to pull University within 36-34 at the end of the third quarter.
DuBois made a foul shot early in the fourth quarter before Syrek put University on top to stay with a basket with 7:10 remaining. Patterson increased the lead to three with a basket before a foul shot by Seay and a Syrek rebound basket put the Trailblazers up 42-36 with 4:45 remaining.
A driving basket by Sears followed by a DuBois basket off a great feed by Seay gave University a 10-point lead with 3:00 remaining. Another DuBois field goal and a Syrek basket off a pass from Seay made the lead 49-36 with two minutes left.
Lebanon finally got on the board in the fourth quarter with 49 seconds left, making a foul shot to end a 12 minutes scoreless streak. The Tigers kept fouling and University kept making free throws to close out the game.
The second-ranked Class 2A Trailblazers are now 19-0. Lebanon fell to 10-7.
University is next in action Saturday afternoon when it will host the PAAC championship game at 2 p.m. against the PAAC South champion. Bethesda Christian currently lead the PAAC South at 3-0. Greenwood Christian is 3-1 and Park Tudor 2-1. Bethesda Christian will play Park Tudor on Tuesday. A Bethesda Christian win sends the Patriots to The U Center on Saturday. A Park Tudor win creates a three-way tie for first, with the tie being broken by the Sagarin ratings.
UNIVERSITY 62, LEBANON 39
University FG FT TP PF
Kelsey DuBois 4 2-5 10 3
Sierra Hinds 3 2-6 8 2
Lindsey Syrek 8 2-2 18 3
Payton Seay 0 5-9 5 2
Maddi Sears 4 7-10 16 2
Jordan Patterson 2 1-4 5 2
Abby Hannon 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 21 19-36 62 14
Score by Quarters
University 12 14 8 28 – 62
Lebanon 11 17 8 3 – 39
University 3-pointers (1) Sears 1.