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Three words describe why the Gaithersburg girls basketball team will play for its first-ever state championship.

"They stuck together."

That was how Janay Borum of Wise put it after the Trojans defied the odds in their 46-44 overtime victory in the Class 4A state semifinals Thursday at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County's RAC Arena. The Trojans (23-3) will be back in Catonsville at 3 p.m. Saturday to play Arundel, a 52-42 winner over Urbana in the other semifinal.

For starters, Gaithersburg trailed by 16 points right out of the gate. The Pumas (24-2, Prince George's County) unleashed a brutal full-court press, and led by the quick Borum, forced the Trojans into 31 turnovers. Gaithersburg's primary ball-handlers, juniors Kara Marshall and Sarah Seipp, accounted for 25 combined miscues.

"We pulled together before one of their free throws," said Marshall. "I said, ‘Guys, we're not losing this game. Who cares that we're down 16 points? We're going to come back no matter what we have to do.'"

What got them back into the game was what took them this far. As Marshall said, "Our defense won it."

Once the Trojans began handling the press, Wise could not counter. The 4A South champions shot just 28.6 percent from the field, while Marshall and Seipp wreaked havoc defensively.

With just over five minutes remaining, the latter took a feed from the former and drilled a wing 3-pointer to give Gaithersburg its first lead of the game, 38-36.

"I told the girls we can be down by 100 with two seconds left and I'll still believe," said Trojans head coach Adrian McDaniel. "That's just the kind of team this is."

Gaithersburg was put to the ultimate test midway through the fourth quarter.

In the span of 100 seconds, Kara and Colleen Marshall (20 combined points) fouled out of the game, and the Trojans held a precarious one-point lead for the final two minutes of regulation.

After a dizzying sequence of the teams trading fouls and free throws, the score was tied with seven seconds left, with the ball in Seipp's hands. Driving the length of the court, she targeted center Aisha Ahmad open underneath, but sailed a pass too high.

That meant overtime: Four minutes with the Pumas at full strength and all the momentum.

"I remember the Paint Branch [regional semifinal], I fouled out and Kara and Colleen basically won the game," said Seipp of the Trojans' overtime victory March 3. "Us five owed it to Kara and Colleen to do this."

And somehow, they persevered. Seipp (team-high 13 points) broke through several defenders and found Ahmad for the opening bucket of the extra session, then hit two free throws to bring the lead to 44-40.

The Pumas tied the game in the final minute, but Borum was called for a blocking foul on Seipp seconds later. The Trojans' 5-foot-7 guard knocked down 1 of 2 free throws, setting the tone for two decisive defensive sequences.

First, Ahmad deflected a pass into the hands of sophomore Octavia Scott, who was fouled and split a pair of free throws with 10.9 ticks remaining. With one shot to win, Wise's Leslie Slayton was forced into a difficult 3-point attempt by Seipp, and the shot banked hard off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.

"I told the girls that Kara, Sarah, Colleen might go down, and one of you have to be ready to step up," said McDaniel. "A couple young girls didn't score, but they played great defense. And that's why we're where we are."