SYCAMORE – Sophia Klacik was wide open after getting a feed from a teammate in the final minute of a tied game against Ottawa with one thing going through her head.

“When the girl wasn’t there, it was like, got to get it in,” Klacik said.

The Sycamore guard did in fact get it in, draining her third 3-pointer of the game on what would turn out to be the last points of a 46-43 Interstate 8 Conference win over the Pirates on Wednesday.

Ottawa (14-4, 4-1 I-8) didn’t lead until the second half, but led 41-33 after a layup by Hailey Larsen, who finished with eight.

But Sycamore needed barely 10 seconds to answer back, with Monroe McGhee making a bucket with 6:17 left, kicking off a 9-0 run that put the Spartans back in the lead.

“We were down seven, eight points and kept battling back,” said Sycamore assistant coach Bret Lucca, who was filling in for absent head coach Adam Wickness. “Our girls were pretty exhausted, but we knocked down some big shots. Soph knocked down a couple big 3s, and that was awesome to see.”

Mallory Armstrong connected on a layup with 2:17 left, putting Sycamore (8-10, 4-1) ahead 42-41. Larsen got a putback on the next possession as the Pirates reclaimed a one-point lead. With 1:12 left, Lexi Carlsen made one of two free throws to tie the score.

McGhee grabbed the missed shot by Carlsen, and after a miss and offensive rebound by Carlsen, the Spartans cycled the ball around. Klacik ended up with it wide open for the 46-43 lead with 47.4 seconds left.

Ottawa coach Brent Moore said the Pirates didn’t do a good job of defending the ball down the stretch.

“We’d reach a little bit, and they’d get around us,” Moore said. “They have really good shooters, they get to the rim, and they either finish or kick to a good shooter. If you’re not guarding the ball against teams like that, it kills you.”

Ottawa had a couple of chances at a tying 3-pointer, but Marlie Orlandi didn’t connect on either. She finished with a game-high 14 points and a team-leading six rebounds.

Kendall Lowery had 10 points and Larsen had six boards for the Pirates, who didn’t trail by more than six in the game and didn’t have their first lead until a 3-pointer by Larsen in the third quarter made it 27-25.

“I thought we were somewhat low-energy on the road to start the game,” Moore said. “All of a sudden we started to fight back and get a little energy. We had a good talk at halftime and thought we came out with the energy we wish we would have had to start the game.”

The Spartans were playing their second game without 6-foot-4 center Evyn Carrier, who was in a boot after getting hurt at a tournament last week. She’s expected to be out two to four weeks.

Lucca said it was big for Klacik to step up Wednesday, as the Spartans will need that going forward without their star center.

“She was knocking down 3s tonight for sure, that was awesome,” Lucca said. “It was awesome to see. People have to step up. Obviously, Evyn has some big shoes to fill, so obviously other people have to step up and knock down shots. We did a pretty good job of that tonight.”

Klacik and Malerie Morey each had 12 to lead the Spartans. McGhee added 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Carlsen had six points, nine rebounds and two steals.

“I think it says something good about us that we can keep our mojo up and keep pushing even when we’re down,” Klacik said. “I think it boosts our confidence a little bit. It’s very important, because more confidence means we’ll go into games more ready to go.”