Cresson, Pa., March 19, 2002 -- State College's dreams of a trip to Hershey ended after defending state champion Oakland Catholic outlasted the Lady Little Lions 49-44 in double overtime.

The two teams battled for four periods and through one overtime before Oakland Catholic made key shots when it counted to outscore the Lions 11-6 in the second extra period.

The first quarter ended with the Lions up 11-9 and Oakland Catholic high scorer Meg Bulger saddled with two fouls. Bulger, who had scored 33 points against State College in December, was handcuffed by the Lion defense and eventually fouled out in the fourth quarter.

With Bulger on the bench, State College let a golden opportunity slip away in the second quarter. Of the Lions' 15 attempts from the field, only two counted and the Eagles' 6-0 junior Eve Pyle added six points in the period matching the six she had scored in the opening quarter. The teams left the floor at intermission with State College ahead 18-17.

The third quarter also ended with State College ahead by one point (28-27) and the Lions again searching for someone to put the ball in the basket.

Free throws by Carlson (4-4) and Katie Glusko (2-2) kept State College alive in the final period preceding a Glusko shot in the lane that gave the Lions a 36-33 advantage. Meanwhile Bulger picked up her fifth foul with 5:11 still to play. Oakland Catholic came back on a bucket by Brianne O'Rourke and could have won the game in regulation. Pyle went to the free throw line and tied the game at 36 but missed the second free throw. The Eagles controlled the rebound on the miss from the charity stripe. After a timeout shots by Meghan Vasilisin and Pyle were off the mark. State College regained possession with five seconds on the clock but a long range shot by Glusko would not go down sending the game into overtime.

The first extra period featured just two points from each squad -- O'Rourke sank two free throws for the Eagles with 3:50 to play and Glusko made a pair at 2:30 for the Lions. Both teams missed game-winning attemps in the final 150 seconds.

State College senior Rebecca Shore gave State College a 40-38 lead with a pair of free throws but Pyle countered for Oakland Catholic. Glusko made one in the lane but O'Rourke's three stretched the OC lead to 43-42 at 1:38. Carlson sank two from the line which were answered by Christiana Lackner's deuce making it 45-44 with :58 to go. Oakland Catholic stretched its margin to 49-44 on free throws by Vasilisin and O'Rourke in the final 29 seconds.

The Lions end the season at 26-4. Oakland Catholic improves to 30-2 and will play Cumberland Valley Friday at 6 p.m. for the PIAA Quad A Championship.