The Hawks Lose in Final Seconds of Overtime, Eliminated From NEC Tournament
The women’s basketball season came to an end Sunday in the quarterfinals of the Northeast Conference (NEC) tournament when MU suffered a 59-57 overtime loss to Mount St. Mary’s in the third meeting between the two teams this season.
Mount St. Mary’s guard Ashley Christie hit the game winning lay-up with eight seconds left to stun the Hawks, who took a 54-49 lead with 3:42 remaining in the overtime period. MU senior guard Gabby Singer failed to connect on an off-balance, contested shot at the buzzer.
Mountaineers guard Sydney Henderson scored a game high 17 points. Jacqueline Brewer added 12 in the win.
Sara English paced the Hawks with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Alysha Womack scored 12 and Abby Martin chipped in 11.
“I’ve been a little speechless since the end of that one,” MU head coach Jenny Palmateer said. “Hats off to Mount St. Mary’s, I thought they played a great game. I’m really proud of our team and the way we fought back.”
MU got off to a slow start, falling behind 16-2 after scoring the first basket of the game. They used offensive rebounds and size advantage to get back into the game. The Hawks had 12 offensive boards in the half, including five by English.
The Blue and White used their court vision to steal two passes in the final 1:30 of the first half and cut the Mountaineers lead to eight, 26-18, at halftime.
The Hawks came out strong in the second half, starting an 18-4 run and taking a six point lead, 36-30, with just under 13 minutes remaining. The run saw a pair of threes from senior Carly Thibault and a pair of lay-ups from Martin.
“We got in a huge hole to start the game,” Palmateer said. “We really did a great job picking up our intensity and getting ourselves back in that one. They’re a group that, when their backs are against the wall, their best foot comes forward. Sometimes we’re able to overcome what we created and sometimes we’re not.”
After a back and forth final 12 minutes, with three points being the largest lead for either team down the stretch, the Hawks found themselves in great position to win the game. Down 49-48, a hard foul that knocked down Womack at half court sent her to the line for a 1-and-1 with 13 seconds left. Connecting on the front end to tie the game, she missed on the back end. Getting back on defense, English recorded her fourth block of the game to send the game to overtime.
“I’m really proud of the grit and determination our team showed to get us in a position to be able to win that one,” Palmateer said. “It didn’t come easy today.”
In overtime, MU carried over the momentum from regulation. A couple of lay-ups and a free throw gave the Hawks a five point lead early in overtime. The Mountaineers battled back to tie the game twice. It was 57- 57 with 1:45 remaining.
“We went on that run in overtime,” Womack said. “I was like, ‘okay this is our run, this is the push we’re going to have for the end of the game,’ but Mount capitalized on every opportunity they got.”
After a defensive rebound by English with 43 seconds left, MU was able to quickly get the ball across half-court with a three-on-one advantage. Palmateer called a premature timeout before seeing what had developed. This left senior Betsy Gadziala to inbound from the Mountaineers side of half-court.
Mount pressured the ball and there was nobody open. Coach Palmateer was calling for a timeout, but the officials didn’t award one to the Hawks. Gadziala forced a pass that was stolen by Tara Lonergan and led to a Mountaineers timeout. When Christie made the lay-up and the buzzer sounded, the MAC fell silent. The effort that MU gave wasn’t enough to advance.
“Not many people can get in a hole in a playoff game and have what it takes to get yourself back in position to actually pull it off and our team did,” said Palmateer. “I just hate that we fell short, hate it for these guys most of all. It’s just definitely not the way we wanted to see our season end.”
MU shot 33.3 percent from the field while the Mount shot 33.8 percent. MU had the edge in rebounds, 50-43.
Womack described the locker room scene after the game as, “silence and tears.”
The Mountaineers win was their first in the playoffs since 2001. They’ll move on to face Quinnipiac in the semi-finals of the NEC tournament.
PHOTO COURTESY of MU Photography
