GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA – Senior guard
Brenna Babcock's (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) layup with three seconds left lifted the Wilkes women's basketball team to a massive 67-65 overtime road victory over the Gwynedd Mercy Griffins on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory the Colonels improve to 2-0 under head coach
Al Berger as the Griffins fall to 3-2 on the year.
The Colonels kept the opening moments of the game close, with field goals from
Reagan Holden (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Wilkes-Barre Area) and
Emma Stout (Bangor, PA/Bangor) contributing to the 5-4 score in favor of Gwynedd Mercy. The Griffins proceeded to go on a 9-1 run to take an eight-point lead 14-6, before a
Nadia Evanosky (Dallas, PA/Dallas) three pointer brought them back to 14-9. The Griffins responded with Alexis Eagan three pointer to take a 17-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Four points by Evanosky and Babcock capped a 10-6 Colonel run with 4:23 left in the half to close the gap to 23-19. Gwynedd Mercy's Lynzie Eggers responded with six points to stretch the lead again in favor of the Griffins 28-19, a lead they wouldn't relinquish going into halftime up 33-21.
Wilkes exploded out of the halftime break with a 10-4 run to close the gap to 37-31 with 5:53 left in the quarter, highlighted by two
Erin Shober (Reading, PA/Wilson) layups and an Evanosky three pointer. Following two Griffin free throws, the Colonels continued to pour on the offense with another Evanosky triple and layups by
Julia Marino (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) and
Julianna Askins (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle) to go into the final frame of regulation only down two points 41-39.
Askins opened the fourth quarter with a shot from beyond the arc to give the Colonels their first lead of the day 42-41. Gwynedd Mercy took their lead back with authority, going on a 13-3 run to take a 54-45 lead with 5:51 to play. Wilkes powered back with five points by Stout leading Wilkes over the last five minutes, and with four seconds left it was Evanosky who made a massive free throw to tie the game and force overtime.
Wilkes took an early lead in the extra frame, going on a 8-1 run to take a 65-58 lead. The Griffins fought back with a 6-0 run over the last half of the overtime period, tying the game at 65 with an Eggers free throw. But with three seconds left Babcock made the crucial layup followed up by an Evanosky steal to seal a massive road victory for the Colonels.
Evanosky matched her career-best 17 points she earned in the season opener at Marywood, also matching her mark from beyond the arc going 3-6 and also 4-6 from the free throw line.
Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) also hit double digit points with 11 and a team high nine rebounds. Babcock led the team with six assists.
Gwynedd Mercy was led by Eggers with 21 points, while Sydney Kesselman contributed 12 points. Natalie O'Neill led with 11 rebounds and Gabby Marinacci led in assists with five.
The Colonels hit the court next on Tuesday, November 21 as they finish their season-opening three game road trip against cross-town rivals King's College. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
