Women's Basketball Loses Late Lead, Falls To Hawks In Overtime, 59-56
SMC can’t hold onto nine-point halftime lead, drops first
home game of season
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact: Seth Cole - Phone: 802.654.2537
Box Score: http://www.smcathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2010-11/files/wstastm.htm.
Photos (taken by Shane Bufano): http://shanebufano.com/saint-michaels-college/womens-basketball/20102011/smcvsaintanselm12710wb.html
COLCHESTER, Vt. – The Saint Michael’s College women’s basketball team (3-3, 2-3 Northeast-10 Conference) saw a nine-point halftime lead slip away in a 59-56 overtime loss to Saint Anselm College in league action at the Vincent C. Ross Sports Center.
For Saint Anselm (4-5, 2-4 NE-10), junior Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark.) tallied a game-high 20 points and added six rebounds, playing all 45 minutes. Junior Megan Howard (Saint Paul, Minn./Central) chipped in with nine points and 11 rebounds in the win.
For the Purple Knights, senior Meghan McCormack (Barrie, Ont./Saint Peter’s Secondary School) recorded a double-double with a team-best 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Sophomore Nicole Adach (Schenectady, N.Y./Mohonasen) also notched a double-double, posting 12 points (on perfect 12-of-12 free throw shooting) and 10 boards, but it wasn’t enough as Saint Michael’s saw its two-game winning streak come to an end and fell to 2-1 at home this season.
Saint Michael’s appeared to take control early, as the Purple Knights raced out to a 25-10 lead with just 2:44 left in the first half. The Hawks closed the opening period on a 9-3 spurt, to pull to within 28-19 at intermission.
The Purple Knights still led by double digits midway through the second half, and a free throw by senior Mandy Scott (Vergennes, Vt./Vergennes Union) with 5:38 left in regulation boosted Saint Michael’s lead to 48-39. That would be the last point Saint Michael’s would score in regulation, however, as the Purple Knights missed their last five field goal attempts of the second half, and committed four turnovers in the waning minutes of the period. Saint Anselm, meanwhile, netted nine points in the final five minutes of regulation, the final two on a pair of free throws from Smith with seven seconds on the clock, evening the score at 48-all and forcing overtime.
In the extra session, a Howard layup 24 seconds in gave Saint Anselm its first lead of the game, and the Hawks never trailed after that. Saint Michael’s kept it a one-possession game throughout overtime, however, and had a final chance to force a second overtime, but a potential game-tying 3-pointer from junior Caitlin Quinn (Oakdale, Conn./Montville) with two seconds to go hit the front rim.
Saint Michael’s next plays on December 18-19, as the Purple Knights head south to take part in the Florida Institute of Technology Christmas Tournament. Saint Anselm is off until December 30, when the Hawks visit the New York Institute of Technology at 1 p.m.
-PURPLEKNIGHTS-
