By MATTHEW WOODS
Contributing Writer
With some late-game heroics by Stonehill, and poor free throw shooting from The College of Saint Rose, the Skyhawks avoided an upset by a score of 92-81 in a sensational overtime thriller.
Stonehill trailed the entire second half, however, when it came down to crunch time, the Saint Rose women failed to capitalize at the charity stripe missing six of their last 10, giving Stonehill’s senior guard Mary Louise Dixon the opportunity at a last second three to tie the game, which she drained from about 24 feet away to send the game into overtime.
In the extra period, the woes continued for Saint Rose as they committed eight personal fouls which allowed Stonehill to make 12 of 15 from the line. The late-game comeback by Stonehill overshadowed the gritty performance from the Golden Knights with leading scorer, junior Jamie Hutcheson totaling a season high 16 points, 4-7 from three point range, while ripping down eight boards.
“We were starting to see each other better and she was getting open a lot and shot it well,” says junior guard Gabie Polce about Hutcheson’s big performance.
Collegiate games today are normally won and lost at the free throw line, which couldn’t be more of a fact with the way this game unfolded. After shooting 85 percent from the line in the first half, Saint Rose shot an uncharacteristic 55 percent from the line in the second half, which proved to be the difference in the game, according to Saint Rose head coach Karen Haag.
“If we make one, one of those six, the game is over and that regulation three doesn’t mean anything,” said Haag. These missed free throws occurred all within the last 1:28 of the game, as Saint Rose watched its nine-point lead evaporate in the blink of an eye.
That regulation buzzer-beating three seemed to have given all of the momentum to Stonehill heading into overtime. Dixon, given the opportunity off of a missed free throw, took the outlet pass from a teammate and never gave it up. After a few seconds of dribbling in and out of screens set by her teammates, Dixon peeked up at the clock then pulled up from beyond the arc.
As the ball was in flight, the buzzer sounded. The lasting image after the shot splashed through the hoop to tie it up at 74 was a fist pump from Dixon as her teammates ran to her to briefly celebrate.
Stonehill fed off of that shot and carried the momentum into overtime, where Saint Rose still seemed shocked by the previous events. The Skyhawks outscored the Golden Knights 18 to seven in the extra period.
Throughout the game, Saint Rose seemed to play with more intensity; Polce had three steals to go along with her 15 points, while teammate Jess DeNicola, who had a quiet first half, scored all 12 of her points in the second. “She is a force no one can reckon with,” Polce said, “She provides a lot of the inside game for us and it was great to see her step up today when we needed her.”
Saint Rose also received quite a bit of scoring from their bench; Staci Barrett totaled 12 points with a couple swooping layups, while sharpshooter Nicole Bini provided eight.
For the Skyhawks, Junior guard Amy Pelletier scored a game high 23 points, while shooting 50 percent from the field. Junior forward Tori Faieta racked up 20 points of her own to go along with Dixon’s 17 to outlast the Golden Knights.
“We played an entire 40 minutes, but just didn’t make a free throw when we needed,” said Haag.
