Western Kentucky's Bianca McGee (center) celebrates with her teammates Thursday after beating East Carolina in overtime in the first round of the WNIT at E.A. Diddle Arena. Nathan Morgan/Daily News

Down seven with two minutes left Thursday night, Alexis Govan and Western Kentucky decided they had more basketball to play.

The Lady Toppers (22-10) scored seven unanswered points to force overtime against East Carolina, then cruised through the extra period for an 88-77 victory in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena.

“We came out with a lot of energy,” Govan said. “We lost it a little at the end of the first half, and they came out and punched us in the face a little bit. Something in us took over, and we were not going to lose that game.”

It was Govan who took over. The sophomore guard scored WKU’s final seven points in regulation, including a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left that tied it at 73.

The Lady Tops will play at 2 p.m. CDT Sunday at Auburn in the second round.

The win was WKU’s first postseason victory since 2007, when it beat Hofstra to reach the WNIT semifinals. The program had lost three straight postseason games since.

“After Alexis hit that 3 to send us to overtime, we just had our juice,” junior guard Bianca McGee said. “We came out like we weren’t going to lose. We weren’t going to leave the gym with an ‘L.’ ”

WKU overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to get the win. It led 30-24 with 5:10 left in the first half, but East Carolina (22-10) scored eight of the final 10 points before halftime to tie it at 32.

The Lady Pirates scored the first 10 points out of the break, and Kristine Mial’s 3-pointer with 17:27 left pushed ECU’s advantage to 42-32.

The Lady Tops got as close as one after that but never reclaimed the lead in regulation.

East Carolina made it 73-66 with 2:05 left with a three-point play by senior center Britny Edwards, but that’s when Govan put the team on her back.

“Alexis wants to win,” WKU coach Michelle Clark-Heard said. “She’s a competitor and wants to win, and I told her, ‘Just calm down a little bit, and we’ll get you in a great position for you to get a shot or get it to someone else.’ “

Govan scored on a putback, netted two free throws and hit a 3 from the wing to tie the game.

The Lady Toppers dominated the overtime period, as sophomore forward Chastity Gooch provided a five-point cushion with a 3-pointer at the 2:31 mark. WKU scored the final seven points, including five at the free-throw line.

The Lady Tops made 27 of 34 free throws in the game and shot 42.9 percent from the field. East Carolina made 4 of 10 free throws.

“When they came to the bench, I knew they were ready to take it over,” Heard said. “That’s what they were talking about, and that’s when you know kids want to win.”

Gooch finished with game-highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds for her 25th double-double of the season, and Govan had 25 points and 11 rebounds.

McGee added 15 points and seven assists, while freshman forward Jalynn McClain chipped in eight points and six rebounds.

Celeste Stewart paced East Carolina with 25 points, and Edwards had 15 points and 14 rebounds. Her twin sister and the team’s leading scorer, Whitny Edwards, did not play because of an injury.

WKU outrebounded the Lady Pirates 46-42 and, in overtime, limited them to 1 of 6 shooting in OT.

“This team continues to keep amazing me,” Heard said. “We never gave up. I’m so proud of them to keep fighting. We came out and didn’t have a good start to the second half, but I was proud of our team because we guarded.”