EARNEST SHOT IN OT PUSHES SPASH PAST HUDSON

SPORTSDESK - The Valparaiso University women's basketball coaching staff recently called SPASH standout, Leah Earnest, a walking bucket. Earnest, who will attend Valpo in the fall and is a coach Mary Evans prized basketball recruit, just made coach look like an even better recruiter on Saturday night.

Not that a 2,000 point scorer isn't already a big-time recruit for the Valparaiso Crusaders, Earnest is a premier Wisconsin high school basketball student/athlete. At this point, Big Ten schools, including Wisconsin, should be kicking themselves for not convincing Earnest to play at their program. Coach Evans surely has a grin that grew even larger on Saturday night, or at the time of reading this update.

Leah Earnest proceeded to rebounded a Hudson miss and dribbled the length of the floor in overtime and hit a jump shot to put SPASH up 57-56 with 19 seconds to go. SPASH then forced a miss shot and Earnest rebounded and was fouled with .7 seconds. The "walking bucket" then hit one of two free throws for the final score, leading her five-seeded Panthers to a 58-56 win over the #4 seed Hudson Raiders.

Earnest finished with a team high 28 points. She was joined in double figures by Zoe Fink with 11 points.

SPASH advances to a sectional final against number four ranked and number one seed Bayport at DC Everest on Thursday, March 5th with tip scheduled for 7pm.