MEXICO - Once it appeared the momentum was there for the taking, the Fulton Lady Hornets didn't hesitate in riding it all the way to a dramatic overtime victory.
The Lady Hornets scored the final five points of regulation and the first eight of the extra session to register a 59-49 NCMC victory over the rival Mexico Lady Bulldogs in Friday night's regular-season finale.
"We've been talking about for the last month about the energy and emotion we had in the first month of the season and we haven't had that," Fulton head coach TJ Quick said. "... When that last 30 seconds and overtime hit, we had all the emotion in the world."
The Lady Hornets (15-10, 9-3 North Central Missouri Conference) had a 40-38 edge in the fourth quarter, but fell behind by five points on the Lady Bulldogs' 8-1 spurt.
Mexico senior guard Ali Mudd drew a two-shot foul from Fulton junior forward NaShayla Brandt with less than :10 to go and the Lady Bulldogs ahead 46-44.
Mudd missed both shots, allowing Lady Hornets senior guard Sloane Totta to bolt upcourt off the outlet pass and and draw a foul from Lady Bulldogs senior guard Karen Baker with :00.2 left.
Totta calmly knocked down the ensuing free throws to send the contest into the extra period tied at 46-all.
"If you have to draw (the end of the game) up as a script, that's how you'd draw it up," Quick said. "You've got five seconds left, you want the ball in Sloane's hand to try and create. ... That's what she does.
"She knocked down the two (free throws) with the crowd screaming and hollering. Yeah, that's exactly how you draw it up."
Brandt posted four of the Lady Hornets' first eight points in overtime as they wrapped up their season sweep of Mexico.
Totta scored 20 of her game-high 22 points after halftime, while Brandt logged a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Freshman forward Adria Costley led the Lady Bulldogs with 13 points, while Baker and Mudd scored 12 and 11, respectively.
Fulton drew the No. 3 seed for this week's Class 4, District 8 Tournament in Kirksville. The Lady Hornets clash with No. 6 seed Hannibal at 4:30 p.m. Monday. The Lady Hornets won both regular-season meetings with the Lady Pirates, including a 45-28 triumph on Feb. 19 in Fulton.
"Hannibal is a good team; this is not somebody we can sleep on, we've seen them twice," Quick said. "We know how hard it is to beat someone twice ... so we're definitely not sleeping on them at all."
Josh Mosley can be reached at (573) 826-2423, or by email at [email protected].