Lasers Fall in Overtime to Cadets

After fifteen ties and sixteen lead changes, the Cadets of Norwich University took home a 64-58 win over the Lasell College women's basketball team in overtime.  The Lasers played incredibly tough while forcing their first overtime of the season, forcing the second place Cadets to come from behind to seal the victory.     After their last home game of the season, the Lasers have a 4-7 GNAC record, and a 7-17 overall mark, and one regular season game left.  Norwich stands tied with Emerson at 9-2 in the GNAC, and 16-6 overall.

Norwich scored off of the opening tip, as Jess Jaggars (Vergennes, VT) layed in two for the visitors.  Lasell went ahead just seconds later with a three-pointer from senior guard Shauna Kelly (Quincy, Mass.).  Lasell took a six point lead, the biggest lead of either team in the half, at 14:46, with a bucket in the paint by Kelly to go ahead 11-5.  Three ties later, the Lasers regained the lead at 7:32 off a layup, plus one by Kelly. 

The hosts retained their edge for nearly the rest of the half, but a post bucket by Tara Stevenson (Watertown, CT) gave the visitors a one point bump.  Katie Farr (Rindge, NH) answered for the Lasers with a field goal from beyond the arc to go up 23-21.  The Cadets tied the score once more before the break, but the Lasers got the last word with an elbow jumper by Tricia Culver (North Hampton, Mass.) settling into a 25-23 halftime.

The back-and-forth continued in the second half, with neither team taking any kind of significant advantage.  Both teams shot 40% from the field, with the Cadets holding a 23-15 rebounding advantage, however the Cadets also turned the ball over seven times as compared to Lasell's four in the half.  

At 4:43, the Lasers inched into a four point advantage after Amanda Driscoll (Roslindale, Mass.) nailed a baseline jumper with just one second on the shot clock. Two more ties commenced, but the Lasers held onto their two point lead with 1:36 on the clock as JoAnna Bishop (South Burlington, VT) added two to the scoreboard from down low to go up 52-50.  The final tie came in the next possession as Kayleigh Shappy (Burlington, VT) went in for a fastbreak to force the overtime.  Lasell got four shots off in the final minute, benefitting from Norwich turnovers, but they could not connect with the hoop.

The Cadets took the lead in overtime with another Shappy hit less than one minute into the extra stanza.  Christine Daniels (Concord, NH) tacked on two jumpers from the free throw line to keep the Cadet's energy moving forward.  With 38 seconds left, Norwich was up by five, and the Lasers were forced to foul.  Erica Rate (Weymouth, Mass.) and Shappy connected on all four freebies to take an eight point lead.  Bishop finished the game for the Lasers, connecting on two from the charity stripe, but it was too late, as the Lasers fell to the Cadets 64-58.

Senior co-captians Kelly and Katie Schumitz (Milford, Conn.) led the way for the Lasers in their final home contest, and senior night.  Kelly had a game-best 15 points and five rebounds, while Schumitz came up with eight points, five boards, and three assists.  Driscoll gave fire to the Lasers off the bench with seven points, seven boards, and two blocks. 

 Daniels was the leader for the Cadets with fourteen points and seven rebounds, Shappy was next with 13 points and three assists.   Jaggars had a game-high 13 rebounds, and Lauren McWilliams (Swanton, VT) added 11 more grabs off the glass.

The contest tonight also marked the "Pink Zone" game to raise awareness and funds for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.  The WBCA Pink Zone^TM initiative is a global, unified effort for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.

Lasell plays their final game of the season at St. Joseph's (Me.) on Saturday, February 21st