WALTHAM, MA – The College of Saint Rose suffered a heartbreaking setback with an 87-84 triple overtime loss at Northeast-10 Conference rival Bentley University this evening.
Saint Rose turned the ball over down one, 85-84, with 10 seconds remaining in the third overtime and junior guard Kim Brennan sealed it for the Falcons via a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining. Senior guard
Jenna Hughes was then forced to loft a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer that was off the mark.
Earlier it appeared that Saint Rose was well on its way to a victory after sophomore guard
Ashley Rath buried a pair from the stripe to make it 76-73 Golden Knights with three seconds left in the second overtime. However, Brennan launched a shot from midcourt that twitched the bottom of the net at the buzzer to force yet another five minutes of basketball.
The game featured a staggering 16 ties and 22 lead changes, although neither club shot well from the charity stripe. The Falcons (14-5/12-2 NE-10) converted only 56.1 percent (23-for-41) of their chances. The Golden Knights (9-10/8-6 NE-10) were not much better as they drained just 60.0 percent (18-for-30) of their opportunities. The two squads also combined for 54 turnovers.
Nevertheless, Bentley ran its win streak to eight games and improved to 7-1 at home on the year. Saint Rose meanwhile saw its four-game unbeaten stretch snapped and had its road record fall to 3-7.
Rath wound up with 19 points and four assists, while senior guard
Elizabeth Buckley finished with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to lead the Golden Knights. Sophomore guard
Ola Shajuyigbe had 16 points and four steals off the bench and sophomore forward
Ali Johnson tossed in 14 points. Finally, junior guard
Lynsey Timbrouck handed out 11 assists to surpass former All-American Nana Lukengu Corts (’99-’01) for sixth place on the school’s all-time assists chart.
Brennan led Bentley with 25 points and eight assists, while both sophomore forward Shatasia Kearse and senior forward Colette Josey registered “double-doubles”. Kearse had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Josey wound up with 11 points and a like number of boards.
Saint Rose trailed by as many as nine, 36-27, in the opening five minutes of the second half after Brennan knocked down one of her four 3-pointers on the evening. However, the Golden Knights responded with a 10-0 run that put them ahead, 37-36, with 12:07 to go after Buckley finished in the paint.
Bentley eventually pushed its advantage back to six, 45-39, three minutes later and was up five on three ensuing occasions when Buckley once again finished inside to deadlock the affair at 49-49 with 4:52 left. Junior forward
Amy Voelkel then converted a layup following a Bentley turnover that made it 51-49 Saint Rose.
There were four more lead changes and two additional ties with the final exchanges coming after Voelkel put the Golden Knights ahead, 58-56, with 22 seconds showing on the clock. However, she was subsequently whistled for a foul at the other end that sent Brennan to the line. She missed the first, but made the second to force the opening extra session.
After Rath made two free throws to put the Golden Knights up 66-64 with 20 ticks showing in the initial overtime, Bentley again held tough as junior forward Elise Caira scored off a feed from Brennan. The drama was then only beginning to unfold.
Looking ahead, both teams return to league action with 1:30 pm dates Saturday. The Golden Knights will host Stonehill, while Bentley heads to Pleasantville to meet Pace University.
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