HUNTSVILLE -- Sealy center Ashley Cooper watched much of the second quarter of her team's regional quarterfinal basketball game against Navasota from the bench with three fouls.

In overtime, she was much closer to the basket and a lot more involved. The senior scored the first five points in a 7-0 run that lifted the Lady Tigers to a 56-50 win over Navasota on Monday at Sam Houston State's Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.

The win sends Sealy (35-3) into a regional semifinal game at 6:15 p.m. Friday against either Madisonville or Mexia, who play Tuesday in Franklin. Navasota's season ended with a 30-8 record.

"I though it was two teams that played hard," Navasota coach Tommy Gates said. "They are an outstanding basketball team, well-coached. You can see why they've won 34 games and why they have been top 10 all year. They have a lot of weapons."

Navasota had a chance to grab the win in the fourth quarter when junior guard Tae' Lattimore outran a Sealy player for a rebound and then hit a spinning 15-foot shot from the right baseline. She must have remembered where the goal was because she could not see it when she released the ball. It went in with 1:25 left to give the Rattlers a 45-44 edge, their only lead of the final quarter.

With 53 seconds left, Navasota guard Alexus Freeman missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity. Sealy's Caroline Owen hit the first of her one-and-one free throw with 43 seconds left, and Navasota never got a good shot at the basket late in regulation.

Cooper finished with 20 and guard Caroline Owen hit 17. Freeman led all scorers with 25.

Until Cooper left the game with her third foul with 4:57 left until halftime, it looked like Sealy would book an early reservation to the Region III-3A tournament.

"Cooper got in foul trouble and sat most of the first half," Gates said. "She came in the second half and I thought she was the difference down the stretch. Their point guard (Owen) is a great player and really, really hard to guard."

Freeman had the only two Navasota buckets in the opening quarter, when Sealy jumped in front 15-5. But despite facing a tightly-packed zone defense, Navasota found gaps in the Lady Tigers' defense. It gave them a direct path to the free-throw line, where the Rattlers hit 13 of 16, and caused foul problems for Sealy. Three Lady Tigers finished the game with four fouls but none of them fouled out.

"We did that in the first half, and when we did it in the second half, they quit calling it," Gates said. "That's part of the game. Alexus struggled a little, and without a doubt she's our best offensive player, but I thought we battled. Denisha Ford hit a couple of shots and our posts did a good job of giving us some second opportunities."

Lattimore, assigned the unenviable task of guarding Sealy's standout point guard Owen, still helped set the tone in the comeback run. She also hit five of her six free throws.

Freeman hit a fallaway shot and then a 3-pointer at 6:34 to get the Rattler girls started on their comeback, but didn't have another basket until Ford sliced through traffic to score with 1:38 left in the quarter. Lanell Hayes scored on a bank shot and the Rattlers took their first lead at 26-25 on two Lattimore free shots.

Sealy also had a shot at putting the game away in the fourth period, grabbing a 44-38 advantage when Kendal Wickens had a putback. Her second follow shot, in overtime after Cooper's miss, proved even bigger.

Sealy 56, Navasota 50, OT

Sealy (35-3) -- Kelsie Maxwell 1 0-0 4 2; Ashley Cooper 8 4-5 4 20; Kierra Harris 3 3-4 4 9; Kendall Wickens 2 0-0 1 4; Caroline Owen 7 1-2 2 17; Morgan Menke 0 0-0 2 0; Marissa Bolden 1 0-0 1 2; Angelica Fitzgerald 0 2-2 2 2; Totals: 22 10-13 20 56. 3-pter -- Wickens (2).

Navasota (30-8) -- Tae' Lattimore 1 5-6 2 7; Alexus Freeman 9 4-5 4 25; Denisha Ford 4 2-4 2 11 ; Reana McNeal 0 0-0 1 0; Kuitesha Maxey 0 0-0 1 0; Sammesha Douglas 0 0-0 1 0; Shakara Spriggs 0 0-0 1 0; Chloe James 0 4-6 2 4; Lanell Hayes 2 0-0 1 0. Totals: 16 15-21 15 50. 3-pter -- Freeman (3), Ford.

Sealy 15 10 10 10 11 -- 56

Navasota 5 22 7 11 5 -- 50

Next: Sealy will play Madisonville or Mexia at 6:15 p.m. Friday at Sam Houston State's Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.