Tiffany Ulmer received an age old sports lesson Friday night – you can go from goat to hero or visa versa in a matter of minutes.

Ulmer chose option number one during a 80-78 overtime win against the visiting Raiders from Klamath Falls.

While it wasn’t just Ulmer missing close range shots, she should have felt weighted down by bricks.

“It’s a tough thing,” Ulmer said. “We usually

make these shots, and it’s a different game if we do. It’s one of the

most frustrating things you can go through.”

The Mountaineers limped through the first half.

EOU opened the game missing its first five shots and committing four turnovers.

Then it happened.

Laura Olsen made a free-throw, and then another – cutting the lead to four points.

Through the first five minutes of the game Southern Oregon lead 6-2.

Head coach Anji Weissenfluh said it set the tone for the game.

“It was an odd game,” Weissenfluh said. “We kept saying here you go take the game, but Southern kept saying it back.”

For the Mountaineers it was the first true test of the year.

EOU won the first three games of the season by a margin of 34 points per game.

Still, as Weissenfluh would say, “I’ll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any time.”

She also didn’t think the schedule did them any favors.

“It’s too early to be playing a conference game,” Weissenfluh

said. “This was the first test for us, and it just goes to show any

night in this conference is going to be tough.”

Thankfully for Ulmer she got a chance at redemption in the second half.

Trailing a large part of the 40 minutes of regulation, EOU took a six point lead with 3:05 left in the game.

Slowly the Raiders chipped away until a Chelsey Muri field goal gave Southern a 74-72 lead with seven seconds left in the game.

Following a timeout, Ulmer took an inbounds pass from Olson and banked a shot off the glass and in to tie the game.

After another Ulmer bucket with 4:37 left in the overtime period, a dry spell ensued.

Again Muri tried to dash the Mountaineer’s hopes.

She connected on a jumper with four seconds left, leaving her team down 79-78.

Ulmer was fouled on the inbounds pass, and split a pair of free-throws. The final one clanged off the rim, but killed the clock.

The mind games continued for Ulmer up to the final seconds of the game.

“I was just thinking make the first one,” Ulmer said. “On the

second one there were a lot of thoughts going through my head. If I

make it the clock stops. If I miss the clock runs, but we’re only up by

two points. It was a relief when the horn finally sounded.”

The Mountaineers will host Oregon Institute of Technology at 5:30 tonight.

SOU (78)

Muri 8-15 1-1 17, Brookings 2-9 0-0 6, Cooper 6-9 0-1 12,

Dickison 0-3 1-2 1, Speer 5-15 4-6 14, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Wood 1-4 0-0 3,

Scott 3-8 3-3 10, Baker 2-5 6-6 10, Scheffler 2-2 0-0, 5. Totals: 29-71

15-19 78.

EOU (80)

Leavitt 0-0 0-0 0, Olson 9-20 505 27, Olsen 3-11 3-5 9,

Henderson 8-18 0-2 16, Hawes 0-3 0-0 0, Garro 1-1 0-0 2, Fiso 1-6 3-4

5, Ulmer 7-13 1-3 15, Matson 3-3 0-0 6. Totals: 32-75 12-19 80.

Halftime score – SOU 33, EOU 32. Three-pointers – SOU 5-18

(Muri 0-2, Brookings 2-6, Dickison 0-3, Wood 1-1, Scott 1-5, Scheffler

1-1), EOU 4-15 (Olson 4-6, Olsen 0-5, Hawes 0-1, Fiso 0-3). Fouled out

– None. Total fouls – SOU 20, EOU 17. Technical fouls – None. Turnovers

– SOU 26, EOU 25. Rebounds – SOU 44 (Speer 14), EOU 50 (Hednerson 14).

Assists – SOU 16 (Muri 9), EOU 22 (Olson 7).