SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Sophomore guard Libby Harris hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining, and the Mount Holyoke College basketball team made the defensive stop it needed to defeat the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts 54-53 on Saturday in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium.
"I felt like I was hitting them all game, so when Coach told me it was my shot, I just went up with it confidently. And honestly, when I released it, I felt like it was going in," Harris said.
In addition to Harris's clutch shooting, the Lyons (1-7) earned their first victory of the season with outstanding ball movement and rebounding, particularly in the third quarter, when they outscored the Trailblazers (1-6) 22-13, turning a two-point halftime deficit into a 43-36 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Taryn White (Alexandria, Va.) scored nine of her career- and game-high 17 points in the third quarter, grabbed five of her eight rebounds and added an assist in the crucial period.
Harris (Foxborough, Mass.) finished with 16 points, including four 3-pointers on nine attempts, to go with four assists. First-year forward Emma Goff (Cohasset, Mass.) also had an outstanding game for Mount Holyoke, with eight points, 12 rebounds, and five assists.
Goff made a layup with 3:58 left in the game at the end of a ball-moving clinic of a possession by Mount Holyoke, with all five Lyons on the floor touching the ball in succession before senior Teal Howle (Florence, S.C.) hit Goff underneath for a 51-44 lead.
But the Trailblazers charged back to take the lead in a dramatic final four minutes.
MCLA's Zaylee Ramos made a putback and a jumper on back-to-back possessions to narrow the gap to 51-48. With 1:20 to go, Laney Martin made a baseline jumper to pull the Trailblazers within a point.
After a Lyons turnover, MCLA passed the ball around the perimeter to Kristie Zator, who swished a dagger of a 3-pointer from the left corner to give MCLA the 53-51 lead with 43 seconds remaining in the game.
Mount Holyoke called timeout, then responded by moving the ball inside to Goff and quickly back outside to an open Harris on the left wing. The sophomore point guard calmly banged the shot in off the back iron to return the lead to the Lyons.
MCLA got the ball to Ramos, who was effective getting into the paint throughout the game. The Trailblazer guard drove and rose over Goff's challenge for the would-be go-ahead jumper in the lane, but the ball bounced off the back rim and into Goff's hands.
The Trailblazers rebounded the ball with eight seconds remaining after a pair of missed free throws by Mount Holyoke, but they were out of timeouts and unable to attempt a final shot before the final buzzer sounded.
"I think the first one is always the biggest," Harris said. "It's a huge confidence booster that we can win. It allows us to form that confidence we have in each other, that we're improving and coming together as a team."
Zator led four MCLA starters in double figures with 16 points. Ramos had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Hailey Peabody added 11 points to go with eight rebounds and four steals.
Mount Holyoke outrebounded MCLA by a 44-27 margin, including 16 offensive rebounds, to notch its seventh straight game with the rebounding advantage.
Mount Holyoke will host Anna Maria College on Wednesday at 6pm; MCLA will also host Anna Maria in its next game, on Monday at 6pm.
