The game may never have gotten to the extra session if not for the heroics of sophomore Brittany Gardner. With EC trailing 57-50 and less than a minute and a half to go, Gardner buried a three-pointer, then stole the ball in the backcourt and converted a lay up to cut Knox's lead to two with 1:10 remaining.
Later, sophomore Nicole Fisher trimmed the lead to one with a free throw, but was whistled for her fifth foul battling for the rebound after misfiring on the second. Knox's Megan Perkins missed two free throws, but the Prairie Fire kept possession when there was a tie-up on the rebound.
Liz Grana, who led Knox with 15 points and 11 boards, missed from short range and she too picked up her fifth foul going for the rebound. Junior Kim Holdenrid connected on the second of two foul shots to tie the game at 57. Knox tried to hold for the last shot, but Hardesty intercepted a pass with less than three seconds left and the teams headed to overtime.
EC never trailed in the overtime period and Hardesty canned the winning basket with 1:15 on the clock, breaking a 60-60 deadlock.
"I knew this would be a really tough game after playing at Greenville Tuesday and having finals coming up," said Eureka coach Sandy Schuster. "We dug deep and somehow found a way to win the game."
There were seven lead changes in the first half as neither team gained larger than a six point edge. Knox (2-4) led at halftime 25-23 despite 20 first half turnovers thanks in part to a 20-12 rebounding advantage.
Eureka (6-2) went scoreless for almost four minutes to begin the second frame and Knox gathered its largest lead at 31-23. The Red Devils answered with a 14-2 run to go up 37-33 with 13:23 remaining in regulation. Knox took the lead back with a 13-4 run and did not give it up until the final minute.
Deakin had a game-high 17 points with 12 coming after the break. Gardner had 13 tallies in 21 minutes off the bench. Hardesty saved all four of her points for overtime and added eight assists and five steals.
The Red Devils have two more games left in 2005. They host Alverno College on Dec. 15 and Milwaukee School of Engineering on Dec. 16. Both games tip off at 7:00 p.m.