SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Jan. 16, 2013) – The Mount Holyoke College basketball team battled back from second half and first overtime deficits to take an 86-82 double overtime victory against Springfield College on Wednesday in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action. With the victory, the Lyons improve to 4-10 and 2-7 in league play, while the Pride slip to 2-13 and 0-9 in the NEWMAC.
Trailing by two with 14 seconds remaining in the contest, the Lyons saw senior guard Angelica Pascual (Lawrence, Mass./Proctor Academy (N.H.) cut underneath and sink a layup to even the game at 60-60. An untimely foul against MHC brought Springfield first year guard Heather Lewis (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) to the line, who drained both to give the visitors the two-point (62-60) edge with nine seconds on the clock.
Following a timeout, Pascual dribbled down court and faked a shot, sending the ball to sophomore forward Amber Legare (Chicopee, Mass./Chicopee Comprehensive), who dropped in a fade-away jumper to tie it at 62-all with four seconds remaining. Neither team could gain the edge as time expired, sending both teams into their first overtimes of the season.
Pride senior forward Emily Walker (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) set the tone quickly in the first overtime, draining a layup and Springfield continued to gain momentum, taking a six-point (70-64) advantage with 2:01 left in the stanza.
Mount Holyoke responded, cutting the lead to two (71-69) on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Kate Karraker (Morgantown, W.V./Taft School (Conn.), but the Pride rallied as senior Meghan Biondolillo (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) connected on her second free throw to push the lead back to 72-69 with 21 seconds remaining.
Facing a two-point difference with two seconds on the clock, Pascual came up huge, cutting in underneath for a hooked layup that sank in to tie the game and send it to the second overtime. Springfield once again took the first points of the stanza on a free throw from Walker, but a three-pointer from Karraker gave Mount Holyoke the 75-73 advantage. The teams began a back-and-forth battle over the next two minutes before the homestanding Lyons took control.
A free throw shot from sophomore forward Nicole DeMarchena (Miami, Fla./Amherst Regional (Mass.) made it a four-point (82-78) difference with 33 seconds to play and the Lyons sealed the game with four made free throws over the final 12 seconds from Karraker.
MHC, which recorded an all-time program record for points in a game, was led in scoring by Pascual, who poured in a game-best 27 points. She added six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Karraker chipped in with a career-best 25 points, going a perfect 7-for-7 from three-point range, while also posting a game-high and career-best five steals.
Additionally, Karraker set the program record for three-pointers made in a game and three-point field goal percentage in a contest (100%; 7-7). Legare added 24 points with a game-best two blocks and team-high seven rebounds. As a team, the Lyons tied the all-time game record mark for three-pointers made in a game (9).
For Springfield, sophomore forward Jaimie Bickelhaupt (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) had a team-high 23 points. She also chipped in with nine rebounds and a steal. Lewis added 16 points, three assists and two steals, while Walker had 11 points and a game-best 11 rebounds. Junior forward Tamara Tribble (White Plains, N.Y./Valhalla) also had 11 points with nine caroms.
Mount Holyoke is back in action on Saturday when it travels to Wellesley for a 2pm contest. Springfield is also on the court on Saturday, hosting Wheaton at 10am.
