ALBANY, N.Y.- The College of Saint Rose defeated Northeast-10 conference rival Le Moyne tonight, 73-72 in overtime. The Golden Knights prevailed in a home-opener that featured 16 ties and 14 lead changes, with the hard-earned victory marking the first career win for Saint Rose Head Coach
Whitney Edwards.
Four Golden Knights eclipsed double-figures in the scoring column, led by 20 points from junior guard
Becca Townes. Fifth year forward
Nina Fedullo totaled 15 points and seven boards, while sophomore guards
Ashia Smith and
Isabel Sanchez added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Townes was also active on the defensive end, registering five of the 10 steals swiped by Saint Rose tonight.
"It was really a great team win. I thought we had been getting out to slow starts and today we started from the tip. It took us 45 minutes, but so much credit goes to the way we fought as a group. I'm so excited for this program and we are going to continue to build. Our juniors and seniors showed their leadership ability tonight," said Edwards.
The team-effort on offense resulted in a season-high in points scored (73), field goals made (27), assists (17), and three-pointers (10) for the Golden Knights (1-3/1-1 NE10), who were able to secure a comeback win over a Le Moyne team that had taken eight of the previous nine match-ups.
Townes kick-started Saint Rose with seven points and three assists in the opening period, while junior forward
Makaela Johnson chipped in another five points in the second quarter to close out a 30-30 deadlocked first half.Â
Townes, Fedullo, and Sanchez combined to score all 16 points produced by Saint Rose in the third. Le Moyne built its largest lead of the game at 46-41 following a layup by senior forward Emma Brinker with 1:18 remaining in the stanza, but Saint Rose responded with a three-point play in the paint by Fedullo and a running basket by Sanchez with five seconds left to head to the fourth tied at 46.
A 3-pointer by
Ashia Smith with 1:23 remaining in the fourth capped a 5-0 run from Saint Rose that leveled the score again at 62-62. Several possessions later, the Dolphins edged back ahead 65-64 after Brinker knocked down one of two at the free-throw line with 14 seconds left.Â
Out of the ensuing timeout, Townes found space in the paint to get the go-ahead layup to drop with 10 ticks left, pushing Saint Rose ahead by one. A foul call on the Golden Knights sent Brinker to the line to shoot two free-throws with three seconds remaining in regulation, but the Le Moyne forward would only convert one of the two attempts to send the game into overtime at 66-66.Â
Midway through the extra period, Townes came up with a steal and fast break layup that put Saint Rose ahead 70-68, an advantage the Golden Knights would never relinquish as they closed out the overtime session by hitting 3-of-4 free throws to secure the win.
Brinker finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds to top Le Moyne (2-1/1-1 NE10), while junior guard Lytoya Baker and senior guard Erin Fouracre each scored 12. The Golden Knights forced Le Moyne into 20 turnovers, which led to 16 points on the other end for Saint Rose offensively.
Looking forward, Saint Rose travels to Pace University for a 5:30 pm NE10 match-up on December 1. The Dolphins will be home on November 28 to host Roberts Wesleyan in a 4:00 pm non-conference meeting.
Notes: The young Saint Rose roster features eight freshmen, four sophomores, three juniors, and one fifth-year…Fedullo averages team-highs of 9.7 points and 2.0 blocks per game, with the latter marking the third-best rate in the NE10…Townes pulls down 4.7 rebounds per game to top Saint Rose…Smith's pace of 2.3 steals per game is the seventh-highest in the league…As a team, the Golden Knights rank third in the conference with 10.7 steals per game.
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