CONCORD — Carson’s 48-47 double-overtime victory at Concord Friday night was the Christmas gift you’d never consider returning for a refund.
“This is the kind of game that will help us later on,” coach Brooke Misenheimer said after the Cougars (4-5, 3-2) won their third straight SPC match. “Even though we didn’t play our best, it’s good to know we can pull out games like this. We need to work on end-of-game execution, but we can learn from this.”
Carson secured the win when senior guard Kate Cole sank a 6-foot shot from the left elbow with 10 seconds remaining. Four seconds earlier — with the Cougars trailing by one — she had missed two free throws, but alertly rebounded her second attempt and swished the game-winning set shot.
“After those misses, I had to make it up to the team,” she said afterward. “I jumped on the offensive rebound — I knew the foul shot was off to the left — and crashed it hard. Once I let it go, it felt good. It felt right.”
So did her teammates after a prolonged sequence of game-ending timeouts. The verdict wasn’t sealed until Concord’s Jada Black overshot the rim from the left baseline as time expired.
“Our shots weren’t falling all night and we had a hard time finishing,” said Carson junior Alex Allen. “But when (Cole) made that last shot, I knew we had it. That’s her shot every time.”
Allen was Alex-In-Wonderland for much of the game. She finished with 14 points, tied with Meagan Gray for team-high scoring honors. Most impressive was the 3-pointer she drilled from the right side that tied the score at 16 in the second quarter. Carson took its first lead seconds later when Cole converted both ends of a one-and-one.
“We couldn’t put them away,” Misenheimer said. “I think Concord played hard and did a lot of things right. From the time they played East Rowan (Dec. 10) until today, they’ve improved tremendously. They made things difficult for us, but we also made things difficult for ourselves.”
Carson had a chance to win the game in regulation but threw the ball away on an inbounds pass. Baskets by Gray and Cole gave the Cougars a 43-39 lead early in the first overtime, but Concord (2-5, 1-4) drew even on Jada Black’s bulldozer layup and a short set shot by Jessica Williams
In the second OT the Spiders grabbed a 47-44 lead on birthday-girl Destiny Floyd’s foul-line bank shot. Cole brought the Cougars with a point with a bucket with 1:32 to go, then won it with the clock ticking to a close.
“We want to do the easy things,” Misenheimer concluded. “We just didn’t tonight.”
“Still, it was a good game to win,” said Allen. “We made mistakes. We made bad turnovers. But we kept working hard, no matter what was happening.”

CARSON (48) — Allen 14, Gray 14, Cole 10, Huffman 4, Roberson 4, McClary 2, Clark, Van Vooris.
CONCORD (47) — Patton 14, Black 12, Ford 7, Floyd 6, Williams 6, Vinson 2.

Carson 7 17 8 7 4 5 — 48
Concord 11 11 11 6 4 4 — 47