Women’s Basketball Falls 67-66 on Buzzer Shot to Bethany
Stats
Jan. 15 – (BETHANY, W.Va.) – A three-pointer as time expired by junior Lisa Mitchell lifted Bethany (W.Va.) past visiting Carnegie Mellon in women’s basketball action, 67-66. The Tartans drop to 6-8, while the Bison up their mark to 6-8.
Carnegie Mellon jumped out to a 12-4 lead to start the game. The Bison answered the Tartans run with an 11-0 run to take a three point lead (17-14) with 6:23 left in the first stanza. The Bison stayed in control of the game until two minutes left in the half when the Tartans went on an 8-0 run. The run ended with a trey by freshman Paige Williamson (Washington, Pa./Trinity) with six seconds left on the clock, to give Carnegie Mellon the 29-28 halftime lead.
The Tartans had a 33-32 lead before the Bison rattled off nine straight points to take the 41-33 lead with 13:29 left in regulation. Carnegie Mellon cut the Bethany lead to 43-40, but two straight treys by Brooke Orange extended the lead back to nine. After a jumper by Tartan sophomore Colleen Light (Colts Neck, N.J./Saint John Vianney), Orange hit yet another three to make it a ten point lead (52-42) with 7:24 to play.
Sophomore Stacie Aleski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) hit a trey to start another 8-0 run for the Tartans cutting the Bison lead to 54-50. The cardinal and grey then pulled within one (56-55) with 3:06 showing on the clock. The two teams would exchange a pair of baskets on their next two trips down the floor before Williamson converted a traditional three-point play to knot the score at 60-60.
Williamson three-point play started a scoring spree for her, as she scored the Tartans next eight points to give them the 65-62 advantage with 1:24 to play. On Bethany’s next trip down the court Renee Brandenburg would pull the Bison within one on a made lay-up. After missed shots by both teams, Aleski was fouled in was sent to the charity stripe with 7.7 ticks left in regulation. She made the first giving the Tartans the two point cushion. Her second attempt fell short and the Bison pulled down the rebound and headed down court. Freshman Nicole Thompson found a double teamed Mitchell, coming off a screen, who then hit the game winner as the buzzer sounded.
The Tartans had three players in double figures with junior Leah Feola (Pittsburgh, Pa./Canevin Catholic) leading the way with a season-high 19 points. Williamson finished with a career-high 17 and Aleski cashed in with 13. Sophomore Jeanette Schilling (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) recorded a career-high four blocks in the loss.
Carnegie Mellon shot 31.2% from the floor to the Bison 43.3%. Bethany had the edge on the glass as they hauled in 55 rebounds to the Tartans 42. Brandenburg led the Bison with 16 points and Courtney Irwin tallied her second double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Mitchell finished with 15 points, while Orange had 13.
The Tartans will travel to Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri Friday and Saturday, January 19-20 for two University Athletic Association games. They will play the University of Chicago Friday at 6:00 p.m. and then Washington University on Sunday for a 2:00 p.m. tip. Both games are Central Standard Time.
