Hauser helps lift Sacred Heart in overtime

Liz Hauser winced in pain as she crouched on the floor after a collision with Kellenberg's Emma O'Connor late in the fourth quarter Monday. One of the officials walked over to see if the Sacred Heart forward was OK and she waved him off.

Hauser wasn't going to leave the game for a minor hip injury. She has played with a wrist injury and bruised ribs, which forced her to sit one game last week. Hauser brushed the collision off and scored six of her 22 points in overtime to lift Sacred Heart to a 62-60 upset win over Kellenberg in CHSAA play.

Taylor Higgins scored 19 points and Nina Corcoran 12 for Sacred Heart (7-10, 4-8), which clinched a playoff berth. O'Connor scored 23, Meghan Leap 15 and Khadijah Donaldson 12 for Kellenberg (14-6, 11-3), which played without point guard Katie Cunningham because of a sprained left ankle.

"She is so hurt," Higgins said of Hauser. "She stepped up. She gets thrown around all the time. She's so tough."

The Spartans have received high praise from opposing coaches, but didn't have a win over an upper-echelon team.

"We had some tough losses," Hauser said. "It's good to finally pull one out. We knew we would get one eventually."

Donaldson opened overtime with a layup before Hauser hit a jumper, two free throws and another jumper with 1:07 left to give Sacred Heart a 58-54 lead. Kathryn Flynn hit a three-pointer to bring Kellenberg within 58-57 with 24 seconds left before Kyle Carey went 1-for-2 from the foul line with 20 seconds left.

SEE PHOTOSSacred Heart 62, Kellenberg 60

Corcoran hit two free throws with eight seconds left to make it 61-57. Leap hit a three-pointer with five seconds left and Carey went 1-for-2 from the foul line with three seconds left to cap the scoring.

Sacred Heart led by as many as seven in the second half, but the Firebirds used a 13-8 fourth quarter to rally. O'Connor hit two free throws with 38 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 52.

"We can beat anybody," Sacred Heart coach Marc Von Essen said, "but it's easy to say that. Now, we have to go out and do it."

They did Monday.