Lowell, Mass. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team recorded a 63-61 overtime win at UMass Lowell on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
The River Hawks made a three pointer at the top of the key with 12 seconds left in the overtime period to tie the game at 61-61, but Le Moyne sophomore guard
Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) quickly brought the ball up the left side of the court, made a move towards the baseline, then turned and sent a pass to fifth-year guard
Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) in the paint.
Baker gathered the pass with her back to the basket, then turned towards her left shoulder and banked home a contested shot to give the Dolphins a two-point lead with under three seconds on the clock.
UMass Lowell's last-second heave missed to the right of the rim, and the Dolphins celebrated their first victory of the program's Division I era.
"It was an unbelievable effort by UMass Lowell. We watched tons of film and we knew they weren't ever going to go away. No lead was safe and no deficit was safe. Kudos to my team for just fighting for 45 minutes," said Le Moyne head coach
Mary Grimes after the game.
"I think when you get in those situations, players make plays," Grimes said of Baker's winning basket in overtime. "That was an unbelievable effort by Kaia to get it down the court so fast… Kaia's been in those situations before so I had the utmost confidence in her and her decision making.
"I think (the team has) done everything I've asked them to do, and haven't gotten the result. I think that's the most important thing, they finally were able to do the things I asked and get a win. It shows that we are doing the right things. Obviously there are things we have to keep working on, it's still early in the season. We're going to keep working and improving," Grimes concluded.
Baker finished the game with 12 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks in 36 minutes, while Goode tied her career-high of seven assists to go along with seven points, three steals and three rebounds in 38 minutes played.
"Kaia made a smart decision, did a jump stop off two feet and made a great pass to me. I just went up and thank God it went in," said Baker on the final play of the game. "This was a good team [in UMass Lowell] and we knew we had to come out hungry."
Graduate guard
Sydney Lusher (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) led the Dolphins in scoring with a game-high 16 points on 7-9 shooting from the field, including 2-2 from long distance. Lusher's clutch three pointer with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter gave Le Moyne a 55-53 lead towards the end of regulation. Lusher also pulled down four rebounds in 37 minutes played.
Redshirt-junior forward
Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) was the third Dolphin to score in double figures, tallying 12 points on 4-7 from the field and 4-5 from the line along with six rebounds and a block. Roberts scored eight of her points in the fourth quarter and overtime periods.
Junior forward
Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford) tied her season-high in rebounds with a team-best seven boards against the River Hawks.
Le Moyne posted season-highs in points (63), steals (12), assists (12), forced turnovers (19), three-point field goal percentage (36.4%) and field goal percentage (42.1%) during the win.
After trailing at halftime by a score of 31-21, Le Moyne outscored the River Hawks 13-11 in the third quarter, then shot 8-13 in the final period to erase an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Le Moyne limited UMass Lowell to 10 free throw attempts during the 45 minutes, while the Dolphins were 11-14 from the line, including 4-6 during the overtime period after not attempting a free throw during the first half.
Redshirt-junior guard Sydney Watkins and graduate guard Mili Carrera each recorded 15 points for UMass Lowell during the setback. Watkins also tallied five steals, six rebounds and four assists in 41 minutes played.
The River Hawks took a 19-8 lead with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter, then Williams' effort on the offensive glass at the 0:32 mark led to a second chance opportunity for the 'Phins, and freshman guard
Leah Middleton (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) crossed over to her left and knocked down a pullup jumper to bring the deficit back to single digits.
The two teams went back and forth in the second period. A fast break layup from Watkins with 56 seconds left in the first half gave the home team a 31-18 lead.
During Le Moyne's final possession of the second quarter, Goode drove into the paint, drew the attention of multiple defenders and sent a pass to the left corner for Middleton who swished her three-point attempt just before the buzzer to make it 31-21 in favor of UMass Lowell after 20 minutes of action.
A little over three minutes into the third quarter, sophomore guard
Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) drilled a step back three-point field goal from the left wing to trim Le Moyne's deficit to five points.
UMass Lowell responded one minute later with a three pointer from freshman guard Abbey Lindsey, then a layup by Carrera with just under four minutes left in the third extended the River Hawks' lead back out to 10 points.
UMass Lowell held a 42-34 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
With nine minutes left in the fourth, Linnin threw an entry pass to Roberts above the right block. Roberts took a dribble towards the hoop, went up for a contested layup, absorbed contact, converted the shot, drew a foul and made a free throw to complete the old-fashioned three-point play and make it 44-37 in favor of the River Hawks.
Linnin drove to the basket, drew a shooting foul and knocked down two free throws at the 8:17 mark, then Roberts scored a layup off an assist from Goode with just under eight minutes in the fourth quarter to make it a one-possession game.
With 4:00 left in the period, Le Moyne took its first lead since early in the first quarter when Lusher caught a pass from Goode in the left corner and swished a contested three-point field goal to give the 'Phins a 48-46 advantage.
UMass Lowell quickly came back the other way, got the ball to Carrera on the left wing and the graduate guard knocked down a triple to put the River Hawks back in front, 49-48.
During Le Moyne's next possession, Williams grabbed a contested offensive rebound between two UMass Lowell players and sent a pass to Goode who swished a midrange jumper to make it 50-49 in favor of the Dolphins.
The River Hawks scored the next two field goals to take a 53-50 lead, then Lusher rattled home an elbow jumper with just under one minute remaining in the fourth to make it a one-point game.
Le Moyne forced a missed shot at the other end, Williams grabbed a key defensive rebound, and Grimes called a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Goode brought the ball across half court to the left wing, dribbled towards the right side, crossed paths with Lusher, drew the attention of Lusher's defender, then sent a pass to an open Lusher on the left wing.
Lusher lined up the triple and hit nothing but net to give the Dolphins a 55-53 lead with 15 seconds remaining in regulation.
"I rarely believe players when they say 'I got you, coach,' because it doesn't always come to fruition," said Grimes after the game. "But I was the last one out of the locker room [at halftime] and Syd [Lusher] was the last player and I said 'Let's go Syd, you gotta shoot,' and she said 'I got you, coach,' and she had me. I mean to shoot the threes that she shot at the end of the game, the corner jumper and the three (at the end of regulation), she had me. And I get goosebumps [thinking about it]."
UMass Lowell called a timeout of their own, then Watkins drove to the basket and converted a left-handed layup with four seconds remaining to tie the game at 55-55.
Following a Le Moyne turnover, the Dolphins got a stop on defense to send the contest to overtime.
Following two made free throws by Roberts at the 2:49 mark, Carrera made a three pointer with 1:50 left in the overtime period to give the River Hawks a 58-57 advantage.
With 41 seconds on the clock, Lusher caught the ball on the right wing, drove towards the middle of the paint and banked in a tough contested shot to put the Dolphins in front, 59-58.
Le Moyne forced a turnover during the next UMass Lowell possession, then Goode drew a foul and was sent to the line for two free throws.
Goode converted her first free throw to make it a two-point game, but her second attempt hit the front rim and bounced towards the left corner. Roberts read the trajectory of the ball perfectly, grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled with 15.6 seconds remaining.
Roberts made one of two free throws to give the 'Phins a 61-58 advantage, then UMass Lowell called a timeout.
Following the timeout, UMass Lowell freshman guard Cire Worley swished a three pointer from straight on to tie the game with 12 seconds remaining.
Baker's heroics ensued, as Goode recorded her seventh assist of the contest with a great pass to Baker in the lane, which preceded the All-American guard's game-winning shot.
The Dolphins improve to 1-4 with the win, and will return to Massachusetts on Wednesday to take on Boston University.
"(Boston) is a tough team. They've got tons of pieces. They have a big kid inside who's averaging close to 20 points right now, so I think today's game was a great matchup to prepare us for that, as were all of our other games, I mean who haven't we played that's tall so far? But we're going to get some ice cream after this one because they deserve it," said Grimes.
