AMHERST, N.Y. – Junior guard Leah Spencer (Brockton, Mass.) scored a game-high 29 points—including the go-ahead bucket with 5.7 seconds left—to lead Saint Michael's College to a 59-58 victory over Daemen College here tonight in non-conference women's basketball action.
Saint Michael's, a long-time member of the Northeast-10 Conference, ran its winning streak to three games and improved to 6-5. It was yet another heart-breaking setback for Daemen, which dropped to 3-8 on the year. Four of DC's last five games have been decided by four points or less and the Wildcats are just 1-3 in those games. It marked the second time in the past two weeks that Daemen gave up a go-ahead basket in the final seconds and suffered a one-point loss at home.
Junior Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) paced the Wildcats with 17 points, while senior Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) sparked a late Wildcat rally and finished with 13 points off the bench. Senior Leah McDonell (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Cardinal O'Hara), who entered the game averaging a team-high 16.7 points, was limited to eight points, but did contribute six rebounds, three assists and a career-high five steals. Freshman Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y./Immaculata Academy) also netted eight points and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds.
Spencer, who scored 19 of her 29 points after halftime, connected on 12-of-21 shots and also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Emily Ferreri (Hyde Park, N.Y.) added nine points and seven rebounds for the Purple Knights, while senior point guard Indira Evora (Somerville, Mass.) chipped in seven points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Purple Knights held an 11-6 lead six minutes into the first quarter, before the Daemen closed the gap with a 5-1 spurt. A jumper by Saba with 1:41 left in the quarter capped the run and made the score 12-11. SMC closed out the quarter with four-straight points and the visitors took a 16-11 lead into the second quarter.
The Purple Knights opened the second quarter with a three-pointer Evora and later took its largest lead of the game, 25-11, lead following a layup by freshman Brianna Purcell (Bedford, N.H.) just 2:18 into the quarter. Neither team registered a field goal for the next four minutes before a jumper by Saba cut the lead to 10 points, 25-15. Heinold canned two free throws for Daemen with just under three minutes left in the half, and after SMC came up empty on its next possession Saba drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to five points, 25-20, with 2:29 left before halftime. The teams traded baskets the rest of the half and the Purple Knights took a 27-22 lead into the break.
The Wildcats tied the game at 27 after they opened the second half with a three-pointer by Saba and a fast break layup by McDonell. The remainder of the quarter was a back-and-forth affair and the Purple Knights took a 40-38 lead into the final quarter after Spender hit a pull up jumper in the lane just before the quarter ended.
Saba tied the game just eight seconds into the final quarter, but Spencer then scored all seven points during a 7-2 SMC run. Her jumper with 6:41 left capped the run and gave the Purple Knights a 47-42 lead. A layup by Galus and jumper by Saba cut the lead to a point, and after SMC got two free throws from Evora the Wildcats tied it at 49-49 following a three-pointer by Heinold with just over four minutes left. The visitors regained the lead following two free throws by Ferreri, but freshman Carina Pringle (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) gave Daemen its first lead of the game (52-51) after she drained a triple from the elbow with 3:32 left.
SMC came up empty on its next possession and Galus hit a triple to give the hosts a 55-51 lead. Spencer then made one-of-two free throws, before Galus struck again with her third triple of the game that gave the Wildcats a 58-52 lead with just under two minutes left. SMC answered with a clutch three-pointer by Ferreri 20 seconds later, and after a McDonell miss Spencer hit a jumper with 58 seconds left to make it a one-point game. Saba was off the mark with two free throw attempts with 45 seconds left, and Spencer missed a jumper with 27 seconds remaining. SMC corralled the offensive rebound, but the ball came loose and after a scramble on the floor a held ball was called. SMC had the possession arrow, setting up Spencer's heroics. Spencer worked the clock down, drove the lane and scored with 5.7 seconds left to give the visitors the lead. After a time out, Daemen got a good look, but Pringle's three-pointer was just off the mark.
Daemen shot just 27-percent (7-for-26) from the field in the first half and finished 20-for-57 (35%) from the field overall. The Wildcats finished 8-for-20 from downtown (7-for-13 in the second half) and made 10-of-16 from the charity stripe. SMC shot 48-percent (12-for-25) in the second half and finished 23-for-61 (38%) from the field overall. The Purple Knights were an efficient 5-of-12 from downtown and made 8-of-12 free throws. SMC finished with a 47-33 edge in total rebounds.
Daemen returns to action tomorrow (12/31) when it hosts Lake Erie College in a non-league game.
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