IOWA CITY - Nobody was blaming it on the snow day, but everyone was thinking it.

Tenth-ranked Iowa City High overcame a furious Washington comeback to win an important Mississippi Valley Conference girls contest, 66-57, in overtime at the Little Hawks gym Monday night.

Classes for the fifth-ranked Warriors were cancelled Monday, but Iowa City High had a normal day of school. Washington Coach Frank Howell didn’t want to admit it, but said it was probably a factor.

“We started a little flat,” Howell said about his squad trailing 13-2 to begin the game. “It was a different type of day for us against a really good team.

"I should have probably called for a shoot-around before we ever got on the bus, but I didn’t do that. That one is on me.”

The loss spoiled a big night for 5-foot-7 senior Tasha Roundtree, who had a career-high 23 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals for Washington (8-5, 7-4). She was a whirling dervish with her no-look passing, runners in the lane and head-down drives to the bucket. She had 16 second-half points to lead the big comeback.

“She probably played her best game as a high school basketball player,” Howell said.

Washington trailed 16-8 after the first quarter and 30-21 at halftime. Led by Roundtree’s high-energy third quarter, the Warriors engineered a comeback. When Roundtree drained a 3-pointer at the end of the period, City High’s lead had been cut to just a single point, 41-40.

City High Coach Bill McTaggart felt relieved to get a win against a top-five team.

“We executed really well at the end of the game and that was probably the difference,” McTaggart said. “Our backup point guard was sick (Erin Danielson), so Washington was wearing us down and then got our big girl (Sierra Chambers) in foul trouble.”

Chambers sat for a good part of the first half.

Washington got its first lead with 6:51 to play in the fourth quarter when Danielle Franklin drilled a 3-pointer, making it 43-41. City High's Kiera Washpun made one of two free throws with 14 seconds to play, tying the score at 51-51. Roundtree’s long bomb as time expired was wide right and hard off the back rim.

In the overtime, City High (12-4, 7-4) outscored Washington 15-6. Roundtree scored all six of her team’s points before fouling out with 34 seconds left and getting a nice ovation from the Warrior crowd.

Stellar guard Mickey Hansche hit 10-of-10 free throws in the extra stanza to ice the win for the Little Hawks.

“I thought we did pretty well with their bigs,” McTaggart said. “That is our biggest win of the season.”

Iowa City High and Washington will play in the same regional. “Neither Frank (Howell) or myself are happy about it,” he said.

City High’s triple-tower combination of Chambers (11 points), super-sophomore Haley Lorenzen (17 points) and Harper Beasley gave the Warriors problems with their offensive rebounding and post-ups inside. City High also won the rebound battle, 31-25.

Howell was impressed with Hansche, who swished 12-of-14 free throws and also had a trio of 3-pointers for a game-high 27 points.

“She is probably the best stand-still 3-point shooter in the league,” he said. “It looked like tonight that her shooting 53 percent from 3-point range is not any fluke.”

The Warriors' busy week gets busier when they travel to play at Dubuque Hempstead Tuesday, visit Jefferson on Friday and host Waukee Saturday night. That’s four games in six days.

“Big week for us. We get to try and bounce back,” Howell said.

City High has won six of its last eight games. Washington lost for the second time in a row following Saturday night’s 64-60 setback to No. 2-ranked Southeast Polk.

Iowa City High and Washington are tied for first place in the Mississippi Division of the MVC with 7-4 records.

WASHINGTON (57): Jazz Royster 2 1-2 5, Madison Kramer 2 2-2 6, Kelli Klaus 4 0-0 8, Abby Herb 2 0-2 4, Brooke Foreman 0 0-0 0, Aleena Hobbs 1 0-0 2, Colby Bjornson 0 0-0 0, Danielle Franklin 4 0-2 9, Tasha Roundtree 10 2-3 23. Totals 25 5-11 57.

IOWA CITY HIGH (66): Kiera Washpun 2 1-3 5, Jordan Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Mickey Hansche 6 12-14 27, Harper Beasley 1 1-2 3, Sierra Chambers 3 5-11 11, Haley Lorenzen 8 1-2 17, Aliyah Gustafson 1 1-2 3. Totals 20 21-34 66.

Halftime - Iowa City High 30, Washington 21. 3-point goals – Washington 2 (Franklin 1, Roundtree 1), Iowa City High 3 (Hansche 3).