Colon's Free Throw with 0.3 Sends Women's Hoops Past New Haven 80-79
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.- Tiffany Colon (Lawrence, Mass.) drained a free throw with 0.3 seconds on the clock to give the Merrimack women's basketball team a 79-78 victory Saturday afternoon at Volpe Gym. The Warriors' record levels out at 9-9 overall and 7-7 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Chargers fall to 2-17 on the season and 1-14 in the league.
Merrimack had six players scoring in double-digits with Gennifer Roy (Granby, Mass.) leading the way with 19. Kelly Schatzlein (Tolland, Conn.) and Colon each posted a double-double in the game. Schatzlein finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds while Colon scored 10 and grabbed 12 boards. Chelsea Shea (South Burlington, Vt.) contributed a career-best 11 points while Taneka Brown (Lynn, Mass.) added 11 as well. Sarah Benischek (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) chipped in with 13 points .
The opening minutes of the first half saw the two squads trade buckets . The Warriors gained a 12-11 edge on a three-pointer by Roy. A triple by Benischek extended Merrimack's lead to four with 13:20 left to play in the half.
The Chargers went ahead 34-30 by way of a 7-0 run with seven minutes remaining in the first frame. Ganser stopped the run with a trey to cut the deficit to one and sparked a 10-0 run. Shea capped off the run with a three-pointer to put the Warriors on top 40-34.
Merrimack clung to a one-point margin at the break, 44-43. Benischek finished the opening period with 10 points to lead the way for the Warriors. Schatzlein scored eight while Roy and Brown added seven and six, respectively.
The home side shot 48.5% from the field in the opening 20 minutes of action with a 41.7% shooting performance from downtown. New Haven connected on 44.7% of its field goal attempts and 54.5% of its attempts from behind the arc in the first half.
The Warriors strung together an 8-0 run to grab a 62-54 lead with 13:45 left in the game.
The Chargers knotted the score at 69-69 at the 6:20 mark in the second half.
A 9-2 streak put Merrimack ahead 78-71 with two minutes to go. The visitors clawed back into the game and tied it up at 78-78 with less than 60 seconds on the clock.
In the final 10 seconds of the contest, three players went to the charity stripe. Schatzlein visited the line with 9.4 and made one of two shots to put the Warriors in front 79-78. Dominique Stellmacher earned two foul shots with 2.2 ticks remaining and converted the first one, evening the score at 79-79.
After Colon grabbed a rebound on the second free throw, a foul with 0.3 remaining sent her to the line with a chance to win the game. The senior gained her composure following a miss on the front end of the double bonus and knocked down the second to lift Merrimack above New Haven 80-79.
The Warriors finished with a field goal percentage of 42.6% while shooting 36% from three-point range. The Chargers shot 42% from the floor on the day while sinking 52.4% of their shots from long distance.
Merrimack owned an 18-board margin on the glass, grabbing 50 rebounds while limiting New Haven to 32.
The Warriors return home on February 2 to face off against local rival No. 13 Bentley.
