MOON
TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Freshman Sandra Andresson (Tallinn,
Estonia/Audentes School) nailed a 3-pointer as time expired to lift
Mount St. Mary's past Robert Morris 57-56 in Northeast Conference
(NEC) women's basketball action on Saturday.
With the
Colonials holding a 56-54 advantage with 0.9 seconds remaining,
Hassanah Oliver (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) threw the ball to
Andresson at the left of the top of the key behind the 3-point line
and then the freshman swooshed her shot from behind the arc for the
game-winning shot.
Andresson
finished the game with 11 points for the Mount (13-15, 8-10 NEC)
while Brianna Gauthier (Severna Park, Md./St. Mary's) had 12
points, and Leah Westbrooks (Dublin, Ireland/Holy Faith Secondary
School) and Mary Dunn (Whippany, N.J./Morris Catholic) each chipped
in 10 points in the winning effort.
With the
score tied at 54, a double-teamed Sade Logan at midcourt on the
inbounds pass found a streaking Destiny Harrison at the basket for
a layup to hand Robert Morris a 56-54 lead. Hassanah Oliver
(Hillside, N.J./Hillside) missed a 3-pointer with 5.2 ticks
remaining, but the ball went out of bounds and Mount St. Mary's
maintained the possession to set up Andresson's heroics.
Playing
without second-leading scorer Monet Johnson, Logan paced the
Colonials (13-16, 9-8 NEC) with 26 points while Harrison added 10
points and Kendra Williams posted 11 points in the loss.
Mount St.
Mary's had the advantage for most of the game, but a late rally by
Robert Morris nearly took the win away from the Mountaineers before
Andresson sent the Mount home happy with her 3-pointer to end a
seven-game losing streak against Robert Morris.
Mount St.
Mary's grabbed as large as an eight-point lead in the first half,
but went into the locker room with a 32-31 advantage.
With the
score tied at 2, the Mount rolled off 10 of the next 12 points to
take a 12-4 margin with 13:54 left in the first stanza. Dunn and
Westbrooks started the surge with a pair of baskets in the paint
before Latavia Vails converted two free throws at 16:02. The
Mountaineers then scored the next six points for an eight-point
edge. Westbrooks scored in the lane at 15:36, Oliver hit the first
of two free throws at 14:45 and then Lauren Howell (Quinton,
N.J./Sacred Heart) capped the run with a 3-pointer at 13:54 for a
12-4 advantage.
The
Colonials cut the deficit to 14-10 thanks to treys by Williams and
Logan, but Oliver and Howell responded with two jumpers to restore
an eight-point margin with 10:24 on the clock.
Robert
Morris cut it to two points at 20-18 with 8:14 remaining, but
fueled by six points from Andresson the Mount took a 29-23 lead
with 3:50 left in the stanza. The Colonials answered right back
with eight points to grab its first lead of the night at 31-29.
Vails scored five points and Williams added a trey in the
run.
Dunn tied
the game at 31 on two free throws with 28 ticks remaining before
Oliver handed the Mountaineers a one-point edge going into halftime
by hitting the first of two at the line with four seconds
remaining.
In the
second half, Mount St. Mary's grabbed a 41-35 advantage thanks to
four points from Dunn. Robert Morris answered with a 17-5 run to
take a 52-46 advantage sparked by 12 points from Logan.
Mount St.
Mary's responded with six-straight points fueled by two points
apiece by Westbrooks, Andresson and Gauthier to tie the game at 52.
Logan and Gauthier traded baskets to keep the score knotted.
Harrison gave what looked to be the decisive score to Robert Morris
with 27.8 seconds left only to see Andresson have the final
answer.
The
Mountaineers have 13 wins for the first time since the 2000-01
season.
Mount St.
Mary's closes out the regular season at home against Bryant. Game
time is 7 p.m. Prior to the game against the Bulldogs, Gauthier
will be honored. The senior moved into 20th place on the
program's all-time career list with 1,077 points.
