Long Beach, Calif. - Sam Houston's three seniors - Chanice Smith, Britni Martin and Sequeena Thomas - combined for 52 of the Bearkats' 71 points as the SHSU women defeated Albany 71-68 in overtime late Friday night on the opening night of the Long Beach Classic tournament.
Smith and Martin both scored 18 points while Thomas added 16 points and 16 rebounds.
"Chanice had an amazing game," head coach Brenda Nichols said. "It feels great to win, especially on the road. Winning like this and building confidence in yourself is what pre-conference play is all about."
Smith provided the game winning points in overtime, hitting a free throw with 18 seconds and a three-point basket with 11 to play as the Kats out-pointed Albany 14-11 in the extra five minutes of play. The victory upped Sam Houston's record to 3-6 for the year as the Kats ended a three-game losing streak.
Albany (8-3), led by Ebone Henry with 29 points, jumped out to a quick seven point lead, 11-4, in the first four minutes of action and led for almost all of the first 20 minutes.
Martin gave SHSU its first lead with a three-point basket just before the buzzer as the Kats took a 28-25 margin into the locker room at intermission.
Sam Houston led by as many as seven points in the second period. Sarah Royals hit a free throw with 51 seconds remaining to force overtime. The Bearkats missed four shots and a free throw in the final 2:30.
The Bearkat women will face host Long Beach in the finals as the California school also won in overtime, defeating Canisius 70-65 in the tournament's opening contest.
