Wellesley College Athletics

For Immediate Release
November 19, 2008
Wellesley Sports Information
Courtesy Roger Williams Sports Information

Wellesley Basketball Drops Nailbiter to Roger Williams

BRISTOL, R.I. - The Wellesley College basketball team rallied from a 13-point deficit to force two overtimes, but eventually dropped a close 73-71 decision to Roger Williams on the road. The win improves the Hawks to 1-1 on the season, while the Blue fall to 0-1.

A late run by Wellesley helped force overtime, as the Blue overcame a large deficit to send the game into an extra session. Roger Williams led 55-42 with 8:27 left to play, but Wellesley closed the gap over the following seven minutes. An 11-0 run helped pull Wellesley within to before a jumper by Casey Anderson (Cohasset, MA) gave the Hawks a 57-53 advantage. A pair of foul shots by Courtney Richter (Sinking Spring, PA) with 1:57 to play pulled the Blue within two.

On the final possession of regulation with six seconds left to play, Richter inbounded the ball to Jessica Duff (Milton, Abingdon, UK) in the paint, who laid in a short jumper to tie the game at 57 and send it into overtime.

In the extra frame, the Blue maintained the lead throughout the majority of the period, save for a game-tying three-pointer by Danielle Perrault (Ridgefield, CT) to knot the game at 61. Entering the final minute, Wellesley held a slim 63-61 lead and appeared to be headed for the comeback victory, when the Hawks’ Jackie Criss (Westwood, MA) nailed a trey to tie the game at 66 and force a second overtime.

Duff helped put the Blue up 71-68 with 2:57 to play off of a three-point play. Nicole Atchue made it a one-point game with a jumper at the 2:10 mark. Jennifer Youngquist (Sandwich, MA) notched the go-ahead layup with 1:20 to play, putting RWU up 72-71. With the score 73-71 in the closing seconds, Wellesley had a chance for the win after Perrault missed the back end of a pair of free throws and Atchue’s tip-back ended up in the hands of Katie Frett (Hallowell, ME). Frett put up a long three pointer as time expired but found nothing but air as the Hawks escaped with the win.

Wellesley was paced by double-doubles from seniors Duff and Julia Thomas (Concord, CA). Duff racked up 21 points and pulled down 14 boards while Thomas recorded 16 points and a game-high 25 rebounds. Senior Courtney Richter added 18 points for the Blue.

Roger Williams was led by Casey Anderson who picked up 22 points and 14 boards and Nicole Atchue who netted 13 points. Carly Spagnola and Jackie Criss rounded out the scoring for the Hawks, recoding 11 and 10 points respectively.

Wellesley is back in action at the Seven Sisters Tournament this weekend at Vassar College. The Blue will play Vassar on Saturday at 12:00pm and Agnes Scott on Sunday at 10:00am.