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IPFW

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Dave Eggen | Inertia
IPFW’s Amanda Hyde, right, takes the ball to the basket against Western Illinois’ Ashley Luke in their Summit League tournament game Sunday.

IPFW women earn marathon quarterfinal win

– In a game that had nearly everything, the IPFW women’s basketball team was on the right side of history Sunday.

In the first double-overtime game in the conference tournament’s 20-year history, the fourth-seeded Mastodons rode a career-best 33 points by Haley Seibert and two buzzer-beating shots by Stefanie Mauk to defeat No. 5 Western Illinois, 106-103, in the quarterfinals of the Summit League tournament.

In what turned out to be the highest scoring women’s tournament game in conference history, IPFW (13-16) scored 102 of its 106 points with its five starters, all of whom ended the game in double figures.

The most notable was the sophomore Seibert, who hit 9 of 16 field goal attempts, including four three-pointers and was 11 for 12 at the free-throw line.

After making a layup to put IPFW up three with 19 seconds left in the second overtime, Seibert sealed the game with a steal and two free throws.

“My teammates did a good job a good job of finding me,” Seibert said. “Coach (Chris) Paul told me ‘You need to control the game,’ and I tried to do my part.”

Seibert’s day would have gone to waste had it not been for Mauk, who knocked down a 30-foot prayer from the top of the key with 3.6 seconds remaining to tie the game at 84 at the end of regulation.

“I was feeling it and I just let it go,” said Mauk, who hit two half-court shots during the pregame shootaround. “It felt great.”

Mauk, who finished with 11 points, also delivered at the end of the first overtime. She made a layup with 2.8 seconds remaining to tie it at 96 and to a a second overtime.

As if there wasn’t enough adversity, conference player of the year Amanda Hyde and Erin Murphy fouled out within 15 seconds of each other in the second overtime. Hyde finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Murphy ended the day with 20.

“This was really good for our basketball team because obviously we’re really young,” Paul said about playing without Hyde. “We found a way to win without her on the floor.”

Seibert and Stefanie Mauk’s sister, Rachel, played all 50 minutes for the Mastodons, something Paul said he has never done as a coach.

“They answered and we answered,” Paul said. “It was just a great game.”

Awaiting IPFW is the tournament’s top seed, four-time defending champion South Dakota State (23-7).

“We’re ready,” Seibert said with a smile. “We’ve had a couple close ones with them and we owe them.”

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