Florida midfielder Emily Heller dodged her way to the center of the field. She freed herself from Maryland defender Aiden Peduzzi and unleashed a shot that rose on its way to the net.

Goalie Emily Sterling lifted her stick, but the shot already flew past her. The ball rippled the back of the net, signaling the end of the game at that moment. Heller’s only score of the game proved vital.

No. 5 Maryland women’s lacrosse blew a five-goal halftime lead to No. 16 Florida, falling, 13-12, in overtime at the Maryland Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex Saturday.

“It’s a game of runs. Lacrosse always is,” Sterling said. “People are going to figure out what you’re doing … Florida kind of just really did a good job of kind of picking us apart a little bit.”

Eloise Clevenger produced six points in Maryland’s (3-1) win against Drexel on Wednesday. The attacker wasted no time reaching similar numbers, racking up four points after just one quarter against Florida (1-2). She finished the game with a team-leading seven points.

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Clevenger picked up her first point with something she does best: dishing out assists. The graduate student found her sister, Maisy Clevenger, for Maryland’s second goal of the game, and later assisted on a Libby May score.

Clevenger scored twice in the first quarter, the latter goal coming with three seconds remaining, to cap off a four-goal scoring run for the Terps.

Kori Edmondson benefitted from a Clevenger assist during her two-goal second quarter, bringing the point tally for the attacker up to five through 30 minutes.

Maryland stayed dominant on the draw control in the first half, winning seven.

With the extra offensive possessions, Maryland’s defense settled after conceding two of the game’s first three goals. The Terps kept the Gators scoreless for the final eight minutes of the first quarter and the entire second quarter, aiding a six-goal scoring run to end the first half.

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That changed in the second half. Maryland lost its advantage on the draw control, allowing Florida to remain in the game. Florida won the only draw control in overtime and won 15 of 27.

“The draw in the second half was significantly different,” coach Cathy Reese said. “I’m not quite sure why. So we’ll have to go back and reevaluate that.”

Florida dominated the third quarter. The Gators tallied seven goals after scoring two in the entirety of the first half. Madison Waters and Paisley Eagan combined for five of the seven Florida scores in the quarter, and the Gators cut a once five-goal deficit to one.

“Our defense kind of stopped playing our game a little bit,” Sterling said. “We kind of went astray from our game plan and … went into a little bit of panic mode.”

Clevenger didn’t register a single point in the third quarter, contributing to just three Maryland goals in the period. That quickly changed.

She sprinted to the front of the goal from behind the cage and fired a shot that beat Florida goalie Georgia Hoey. Clevenger’s score in the fourth quarter completed a hat trick, her second in as many games.

Both teams traded goals to begin the fourth quarter. Maggi Hall and Eagan tied the game for Florida before May – off of a Clevenger assist – put the Terps ahead by one goal.

Florida won one last possession in the final minute after forcing a stop on defense, and Eagan scored with 20 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

Heller scored two minutes into the first overtime period to secure the upset and hand the Terps their first loss of the season.

“Credit to Florida … but good for us at this point in the season. Have a lot to look at, a lot to work on and get back at it for our next game,” Reese said.