What separates great basketball players from mere mortals is the ability to win a game when everyone in an arena knows who’s taking the all-or-nothing last shot.

Which probably made LSU guard Khayla Pointer game-winning drive with 5.7 seconds left in overtime for an 87-85 SEC victory over Missouri Thursday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center even more remarkable.

Because once she had the ball in hand after an inbounds pass, she drove past Missouri guard Lauren Hansen, went down the middle of the lane untouched like she was strolling down a welcome mat and laid in a drive over the front of the rim.

“I wasn't trying to go into another overtime,” said Pointer, who finished with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. “I felt like we're gonna win or we were gonna lose, but I felt like I had enough confidence in myself to take the last shot. I'm just happy I was able to pull it off for my team.”

It was the first time this season for 12th ranked LSU (16-2 overall, 4-1 SEC) to go into overtime as coach Kim Mulkey’s squad found a way to win despite losing starting forward Autumn Newby with a knee injury and giving up 15 Missouri 3-pointers (the most allowed in LSU women's basketball history).

LSU held Mizzou (13-4, 2-2 SEC) without a field goal in the final 2:58 of overtime after the visitors hit their last six of seven shots in regulation.

Missouri had last shot layups in regulation and in overtime. But Hansen missed the game-winner in regulation and guard Mama Dembele had her game-tying shot swatted by Alexis Morris as the final buzzer sounded in overtime.

LSU’s guard trio of Pointer, Jalin Cherry and Morris filled up the stat sheet again, combining for 58 points, 18 rebounds and 17 assists.

Besides Pointer’s usual excellent game, Cherry added 20 points, 7 rebounds and a career high 9 assists and Morris contributed 17 points and 7 rebounds.

“Both teams just have kids that compete, they're tough, they just don't want to lose,” Mulkey said. “I told (Missouri coach) Robin Pingeton afterwards `You didn’t lose, you just ran out of time and it could have been us.’

“I loved everything about the game tonight. It wasn't an ugly game. It was a well-played game.”

It was also four quarters of continuous strategizing and adjustments, especially when it appeared LSU might be on the ropes when it lost Newby, the team’s best offensive rebounder.

The grad transfer from Vanderbilt had already collected 12 rebounds when she suffered an apparent left knee injury trying to block a shot with 8:33 left in the third quarter. Thirty-seven seconds later, Faustine Aifuwa, LSU’s other starting forward, was benched after committing a third foul and then being whistled for a technical foul (which counted as a fourth personal foul) on the same play.

At that point, Mulkey was in dire straits. After LSU held a 38-30 halftime lead, its defense was getting ripped apart by Missouri’s 15 of 31 3-point bombing led Hansen (23 points, 7 of 10 3’s) and Hayley Frank (19 points, 6 of 12 3’s.)

There was also the fact Mizzou guard Alijah Blackwell, who went scoreless for almost the game’s first 14 minutes, scored her team’s last 12 points of the second quarter and added seven in the third period.

Faced with prospect of no Newby for the rest of the game and Aifuwa sitting on the bench in foul jail, Mulkey tried a couple of desperate measures.

“I went to a 3-2 zone (defense) and to be honest I’ve never taught these kids a 3-2 zone in my life,” Mulkey said. “I looked at the kids in a timeout and asked, `Can you do it? Can you do something I've never taught you to do? Just stay as wide as you can.’”

Also, Mulkey gambled and brought Aifuwa and her four fouls back in the game after she sat just four minutes on the bench.

Aifuwa didn’t foul out. She teamed with freshman reserve center Hannah Gusters, played the last 18½ minutes one whistle away from being done and finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds.

In the final 5:22 of regulation, Missouri hit six straight shots before Hansen missed a game-winning drive to send the game to overtime tied 79-79. LSU, in that same time frame, made just 4 of 12 field goals.

LSU took a four-point lead in overtime at 83-79 on a pair of Cherry baskets. But Mizzou’s Blackwell countered with two layups, the second basket coming on a three-shot possession with 2:58 left.

From that point, scoring was just about impossible for both teams. In that closing stretch, LSU was 2 for 6 from the field with 1 turnover, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 fouls. Missouri was 0 for 2 from the field and 2 of 2 from the free throw line with 4 turnovers, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 foul.

“You had two teams pretty exhausted at the end,” Missouri’s Pingeton said. “There were some challenging matchups both ways. It was like a chess match.”