February 14, 2009 - Hillsdale College senior Katie Cezat broke another one of her own records in an epic overtime contest Saturday afternoon.

Cezat had 28 points and a school-record 28 rebounds in Hillsdale's 80-75 OT win over Northwood University at Jesse Philips Arena. The Chargers are now 21-2 overall and 16-2 in the GLIAC. Northwood falls to 18-5 on the season, with two of those five losses coming to the Chargers in overtime.

Cezat's 28 boards broke the record of 26 she set at Tiffin on Jan. 24. She now owns the top three single-game rebound totals in school history. But it was a shot by Cezat that may have been the difference in the game.

The Chargers had the ball with 30 seconds left in regulation and up by three points. As the shot clock went from one to zero seconds, Cezat grabbed a loose ball and threw in a desparation 3-pointer that gave Hillsdale a six-point lead. Out of the 228 field goals made by Cezat this season, none have been more incredible or timely.

Timely, because Northwood put together an amazing effort in the game's final seconds to force the overtime period. After Cezat's 3-pointer, the Timberwolves went on an 8-2 run, capped by a buzzer-beating layup by Jodi Ostegren to force a 64-64 tie at the end of the second half.

In the first meeting between the teams this season, on Jan. 8, Northwood made a shot just as time expired to tie the game and force overtime.

After Northwood scored the first basket of overtime, the Chargers took control, going on a 9-2 run to take a 73-68 lead with two minutes to play. A standing 3-pointer by junior Janay Miller was the highlight shot of the run.

The Chargers didn't trail for the rest of the game, but had to fight off the talented and determined Timberwolves, who battled until the final buzzer. Freshman Chelsea Harrison nailed a 3-pointer, and later, drained two free throws to keep the Chargers in front.

Junior guard Brooke Knight, who played one of the best games of her career, also made two free throws down the stretch to help maintain Hillsdale's lead. Knight set a new career-high with 12 rebounds, to go along with 18 points and seven assists. Knight also committed zero turnovers in 40 minutes on the court.

Northwood did an excellent job of guarding Cezat, sending two and sometimes three additional defenders to her when she received a pass. Cezat also did a superb job at playing with discipline. She was called for two fouls in the game's first three minutes, but only committed one foul in the remaining 42 minutes of the game.

Cezat also had three blocked shots in the game. She had five offensive rebounds and a school-record 23 defensive rebounds in another brilliant performance. For the season, Cezat is averaging 28.2 points and 17.1 rebounds per game.

Miller had 12 points in the game, while senior Claire Aubrey added 10 points. Both players did a good job at finding open spots in Northwood's zone defense for open jumpers.

Hillsdale will go on its final road trip of the regular season next week, with games at Northern Michigan Thursday and Michigan Tech Saturday.

To view the box score from Saturday's game, click on the link below.

Box score