Women's Hoops Downed 77-73 by Saint Rose in OT
ALBANY, N.Y.- The Merrimack women's basketball team fell 77-73 to Saint Rose in overtime Wednesday evening at the Nolan Gymnasium. The Warriors dip to 7-8 on the season and 5-6 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Golden Knights improved to 12-4 overall and 8-4 in the league.
Gennifer Roy (Granby, Mass.) paced the team with 18 points on the night. Kelly Schatzlein (Tolland, Conn.) added 15 points while pulling down eight rebounds. Sarah Benischek (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) finished with 12 points and nine boards. Ruchel Lowe (Glenarden, Md.) posted a career-high 10 points and Chelsea Shea (South Burlington, Vt.) grabbed a personal-best seven rebounds.
Merrimack jumped out to a 13-7 lead after eight minutes of action. Saint Rose knotted the score at 13-13 less than two minutes later. The Warriors would regain the lead on the next possession as Roy sank a lay-up.
A 9-0 run gave the visitors a 27-15 advantage with seven minutes to go in the opening frame. Benischek sank a jumper with four ticks remaining on the clock to give Merrimack a 10-point edge at halftime, 41-31.
Benischek and Lowe finished the first period with 10 points each. Roy recorded seven points through the opening 20 minutes while Tiffany Colon (Lawrence, Mass.) grabbed five boards.
The Warriors shot 52.9% from the field in the first half including 44% from three-point land. The Golden Knights were limited to 34.3% field goal shooting in the first stanza.
The Golden Knights cut the deficit to four after opening the period with a 9-3 run. The Warriors forged ahead with eight unanswered points to gain a 52-40 lead with 13 minutes left to play.
The two squads exchanged buckets and Merrimack still led Saint Rose by double-digits, 57-47, with seven minutes on the clock.
The Golden Knights drew to within two points on a three-pointer by Amy Voelkel with 1:05 remaining in regulation.
After Colon drained a free throw, Ola Shajuyigbe sank a trey to tie the score at 67-67 with nine seconds on the clock.
Benischek and Taneka Brown (Lynn, Mass.) each blocked a shot in the final seconds of regulation to deny Saint Rose of any last-second heroics.
Merrimack began the extra session with four points to take a 71-67 lead after one minute of play.
The home team took a 74-73 lead with under a minute to play, claiming its first lead of the game since draining the game's opening basket. A trio of free throws sealed the 12th win of the year for Saint Rose.
The Warriors owned a 43.8% field goal shooting while hitting on a third of their three-point attempts. The Golden Knights shot 34.9% from the floor and 32.1 from behind the arc.
Shajuyigbe paced Saint Rose with 22 points in the game while adding eight rebounds.
"We came out with lots of intensity and we did a good job of taking high percentage shots in the first half," said fifth year head coach Helen Williams. "Our levels of focus and intensity needed to be a little more consistent down the stretch."
Merrimack welcomes Pace to Volpe Gym January 22 in game one of a doubleheader.
