Turnovers and free throws. That’s pretty much all you need to know.

Waterloo West shot a remarkable 47 free throws and forced Washington into a jaw-dropping 37 turnovers Tuesday night in an exciting Mississippi Valley Conference game at Washington.

Those numbers helped Waterloo West stun the fifth-ranked Warriors, 83-80, in overtime.

Washington (5-1, 5-1) lost for the first time this season, while Waterloo West moved to 6-4 overall and 2-4 in the MVC.

“We turned the ball over too much,” Warrior boss Frank Howell said. “But one of the things we didn’t do was quit even when we were down three in the closing seconds of the game. We kept fighting and kept hanging around.”

Howell said he was surprised by the WaHawks' halfcourt trapping defense that forced his squad into 13 turnovers in the first quarter alone.

“They kind of snuck up on us a little bit because they ran a defense I hadn’t seen them run before,” he said. “They caught us off-guard and the turnovers, especially in the first quarter, were probably the difference in the game.”

Washington trailed by as many as eight points in the second half and closed the margin to 55-51 after three quarters. Danielle Franklin’s 3-pointer from the right side with two seconds to play for the Warriors sent the game into overtime, 74-74.

Trailing 83-80 in the extra stanza, Colby Bjornson had a decent look in the final seconds, misfiring on a 3-point bomb that would have sent the game into double overtime. The horn sounded as her shot hit the rim.

“That was pretty exciting,” Howell said. “Colby had a good attempt to try and send it into double overtime and it just rimmed out on her a little bit. Otherwise, we might still be playing out there.”

Upset-minded Waterloo West needed the rare feat of three players scoring 20 or more points to clip the taller and deeper Warriors. Sophomores Blaire Thomas (28 points) and Haley Puk (27 points) combined with multi-sport star Zinka Duric (20 points) to do nearly all the damage. Only one other WaHawk player scored. Thomas scored 14 points in each half.

Howell said he was impressed with Thomas.

“She does a good job whether converting on the fast break or the half-court sets in establishing position down on the block,” he said. “She uses her body really well and they had numerous three-point play opportunities.”

Washington was led in scoring by Franklin, who had a trio of 3-pointers for a career-high 27 points, six rebounds and five assists. Kelli Klaus added 20 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Washingon scored 12 more field goals that Waterloo West, but lost the game by making 33 less free throws. The Warriors were just 3 of 7 from the foul line, while Waterloo West drilled 36 of 47 charity tosses. The Wahawks got into the double-bonus with 7:40 to play in the fourth quarter.

Washington welcomed the return of Tasha Roundtree, who was playing her first game since being declared ineligible for 30 days for academic reasons. She had six points and six assists and played significant minutes before fouling out.

“It was great to have Tasha back out there,” Howell said. “We are going to need her.”

The score was tied 36-36 at halftime. Waterloo West led 15-14 after the first quarter. There were eight ties in the first two quarters, but the Warriors led only once in the second half, 67-66, with 1:56 to play following a Roundtree driving layup.

In the overtime, Waterloo West attempted to milk the clock and hit a remarkable 13 of 16 free throws. Abby Herb sank an eight-footer in the lane with 23 seconds left for Washington to cut the lead to 81-80, but Waterloo West called timeout and then broke the fullcourt press, forcing Washington to foul.

Puk’s two free throws with 16 seconds left were the final points of the game. Bjornson launched an air ball from behind the arc with five seconds on the clock and Thomas was called for traveling before Bjornson missed again from long range as the horn sounded.

“It was a good sign for us to remain competitive when we had three kids foul out of the game,” Howell said. “It is just one of those things. It is just a crazy league this year. If you look at who is beating who, it doesn’t really matter the next night out.

"We’ve just got to make up our mind that despite losing this game, which we really wanted to win, that we are going to learn from it and move on and get better.”

Washington hosts top-ranked Iowa City West in its first outing after the Christmas break on Jan. 3.

WATERLOO WEST (83): Ashley Hill 1 6-6 8, Makayla Stokes 0 0-0 0, Haley Puk 5 15-19 27, Zinka Duric 5 9-10 20, Blaire Thomas 11 6-12 28. Totals 22 36-47 83.

WASHINGTON (80): Jazz Royster 6 1-2 13, Madison Kramer 2 0-3 4, Kelli Klaus 10 0-0 20, Abby Herb 5 0-0 10, Brooke Foreman 0 0-0 0, Aleena Hobbs 0 0-0 0, Colby Bjornson 0 0-0 0, Danielle Franklin 11 2-2 27, Tasha Roundtree 3 0-0 6. Totals 34 3-7 80.

Halftime - Washington 36, Waterloo West 36. 3-point Goals – Waterloo West 3 (Puk 2, Duric 1), Washington 3 (Franklin 3). Fouled out – Royster, Foreman, Roundtree.