ATWOOD — Junior Jessi Sullivan sank a 3-pointer at the end of regulation tonight to send Uni's season-opening game against Atwood-Hammond into overtime.

But the host Rajenes outscored Uni 10-3 in OT to win the nonconference match 66-59. Atwood-Hammond's Shelby Helfrich led all scorers with 27 points.

The Illineks led the game 10-5 after the first quarter, 28-22 at halftime, and 40-33 after three periods. The teams went into OT deadlocked at 56.

"We would get ahead by a good 8 to 10 points, mostly by running transitions and fast-breaking on them," said senior Sarah Pfander, who led the team in rebounding with 6 boards. "Then they would come back, often through free-throw shooting."

Atwood-Hammond, which co-opts with Bement, scored 26 of its points on free throws (26 of 45). Four Uni players fouled out: junior Rachel Skoza and seniors Samantha Nguyen, Ruthie Welch, and Aran Yoo.

Skoza had a team-high 16 points and 4 blocks for Uni. She also grabbed 5 rebounds. Pfander scored 9, including a 3-pointer in overtime. Welch added 13 points and 4 rebounds, and Yoo scored 10.

"Because we had so many key players in foul trouble, none of them could stay on the court for a great deal of time, which meant that we couldn't quite get into a rhythm," Pfander said. "Say Rachel would score 4 or 6 points in a row — we would be feeling good, running the ball, etc. Then she would foul and have to sit for a while on the bench. We would lose momentum at that point, and they would come back."

In the final 2 minutes of regulation, Atwood-Hammond overcame a 7-point deficit and pulled ahead by 3.

"They put on the press and we kind of panicked," Pfander said. "In the last 2 seconds Jessi scored the 3, sending us into the OT. During overtime our players slowly but surely fouled out — Skoza was already out — and we were never really in the game during OT. I scored the 3 at about 5 seconds, but obviously that was too little too late and they held the ball until time was called."

Sullivan, whose trey forced overtime, made it to the IHSA state finals in 3-point shooting last year.

The Illineks are 0-1 and will play two games Saturday in the 2007 McDonald's Comet Classic at Oakwood High School. Uni will face Heritage at 4:30 p.m. and the host Oakwood Comets at 7:30.

The girls are coming off a 2006-07 season in which they went 12-13 overall (12-12 in the regular season) and 8-4 in the East Central Illinois Conference.

In junior varsity action, Uni lost 35-12.

"It was really disappointing and really frustrating," Pfander said of the varsity outcome. "Hopefully we can come back and win some this weekend."

THE SEASON SO FAR

2007-08 GIRLS VARSITY BASKETBALL: 0-1 overall, 0-0 East Central Illinois Conference
(home matches listed in bold)

Nov. 15: at Atwood-Hammond, L 66-59 (OT)

• Story: see above
• Points: Rachel Skoza 16, Ruthie Welch 13, Aran Yoo 10, Sarah Pfander 9
• Rebounds: Pfander 6, Skoza 5, Welch 4
• Blocks: Skoza 4
• JV game: Atwood Hammond def. Uni 35-12
• JV record: 0-1, 0-0

Next game: Saturday at Oakwood H.S., two games in the McDonald's Comet Classic: 4:30 p.m. vs. Heritage and 7:30 p.m. vs. Oakwood. Click here for directions to Oakwood H.S.

2007-08 schedule: Click here for the Gargoyle Scoreboard.