Falcons Drop Heartbreaker Late to Pine Manor College 69-67
New Haven, CT - The Albertus Magnus College Women's Basketball team used a late second half run and saw the game tying basket rim out as they dropped a heartbreaker to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponent Pine Manor College 69-67. The Falcons trailed 69-67 with 9.3 seconds remaining with the ball. Following an Albertus time-out, the Falcons executed the play to near perfection with the open jumper in the lane rimming out and Pine Manor College grabbing the rebound.
The Falcons would foul but only had .3 seconds left on the clock following two missed Pine Manor College free-throws and another Falcon time-out. Albertus only had time for a tip-in and a long throw-in was intercepted by Pine Manor College to end the game.
Albertus used a strong second half push to close the gap and was sparked when junior forward Sarah Boudreau converted a three point play to cut the lead to 63-58. The game continued to battle back an forth until freshman guard Lindsay Karle (Wallingford, CT/Lyman Hall) buried a deep three pointer to cut the lead to 66-63 with 3:20 remaining in the second half.
Freshman forward Annie Raucci (Milford, CT/Foran) grabbed a defensive rebound and hustled the length of the floor to make a key basket with 1:23 remaining and to cut the lead to 68-65. Following a missed Pine Manor jumper, Karle would finish a beautiful pass from sophomore guard Shanilya Bush (New Haven, CT/Wilbur Cross) with 40.5 seconds on the clock to cut the score 68-67.
The Falcons would foul Pine Manor College on an agressive loose ball diving play an Pine Manor made one of two at the free-throw line to make the score 69-67 with 9.3 seconds remaining in the half.
Karle led the Falcons with a team high 19 points while Bush added 12 points and seven assists. Freshman guard Nicole Acerra (East Haven, CT/East Haven) chipped in 11 points.
Pine Manor College was led by junior guard Therline Dumeran (Cambridge, MA/Cambridge Rindge) and her outstanding performance of a game high 25 points, game high 22 rebounds, six steals, four assists, and four blocks.
Albertus drops to 6-9, 1-4 GNAC while Pine Manor College improves to 5-10, 2-3 GNAC.
The Falcons travel to New London, CT to take on Connecticut College in a non-conference game on Tuesday with a 7:00 pm tip-off.