ROCHESTER, N.Y. (March 4, 2011) – Alexandra Chili hit a hit a three-pointer out of the right corner with one second to play to lead Muhlenberg College to a 64-63 victory in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Playoffs at the University of Rochester.

Chili's heroics came just 14 seconds after Claire Baecher hit a jumper off the right block to give Williams a 63-61 lead with 15.6 seconds remaining.

Muhlenberg tried to rush the ball upcourt, but Williams committed two fouls to delay the offense. After the second foul with eight seconds left, Muhlenberg coach Ron Rohn called his last timeout.

"He wanted to keep us calm," said Chili. "We wanted to get the ball below the foul line, so if Williams fouled again, we would inbound the ball on the baseline."

The Ephs (21-6) knocked a pass out of bounds with three seconds left. Kelly McKeon inbounded with a tall defender blocking her view. Chili was the second option.  She caught the ball and sank the gamewinner. Williams inbounded but a long pass upcourt was batted away and time expired. 

"I told the players after the game 'you see these kind of games in the NCAA tournament all the time,'" Rohn said. "You wonder what it feels like to win a game like that. You'll remember this feeling the rest of your life."

Neither team could pull away. Muhlenberg (22-5) opened an eight-point lead on a three-pointer by Chili with 3:27 left (26-18) only to see Williams pull within two points twice, the last time with 20 seconds left. It was 31-27 Muhlenberg at halftime.

The Ephs didn't take their first lead until 9:37 left in the game on a layup and free throw by Baecher.  That put Williams ahead, 45-44. They kept trading the lead.

"I just wanted one extra basket," said Williams coach Pat Manning. "If we could get a stop and then score, it would help. Kids were stepping up on both sides and making shots. Chessie (Jackson) and Baecher came up big when we needed them."

Both teams missed opportunities to break the 61-all deadlock in the last 90 seconds. With just over 18 seconds left and the shot clock down to three seconds, Jennie Harding lobbed the ball into Baecher on the right block. She turned and calmly hit a four-footer to put Williams up, 63-61.

"They run a lot of alley oop plays for Baecher," Rohn said. "We thought they would do it again. Instead, they lobbed it down low and she went over the top."

Chili led all scorers with 24 points. McKeon had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Muhlenberg. Leeann Lanza scored 10 points.

Baecher scored 21 points for Williams. Jackson had 14.

Newspaper Box Score

Muhlenberg College vs Williams College

03/04/11 6 pm at Palestra, Rochester, NY NCAA 1st Rd.

At Palestra, Rochester, NY NCAA 1st Rd.

MUHLENBERG COLLEGE 64, WILLIAMS COLLEGE 63

MUHLENBERG COLLEGE (22-5)

Alexandra Chili 9-18 0-0 24; Kelly McKeon 6-14 0-0 13; Leeann Lanza 4-10 2-3

10; Sheila Cook 3-10 3-4 9; Alexandra Berlin 3-6 0-2 6; Alita Zabrecky 0-3

2-2 2; Katy Rossino 0-0 0-0 0; Erin Laney 0-0 0-0 0; Kate Clawson 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals 25-61 7-11 64.

WILLIAMS COLLEGE (21-6)

Claire Baecher 9-16 2-3 21; Chessie Jackson 6-15 0-0 14; Jill Greenberg 2-4

3-4 8; Jennie Harding 3-7 0-0 8; Taylor Shea 3-13 2-2 8; Grace Rehnquist 1-6

0-0 2; Jen Borderud 1-2 0-0 2; Lisa Jaris 0-0 0-0 0; Danny Rainer 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals 25-64 7-9 63.

Muhlenberg College............   31   33  -   64

Williams College..............   27   36  -   63

3-point goals--Muhlenberg College 7-13 (Alexandra Chili 6-10; Kelly McKeon

1-1; Alexandra Berlin 0-1; Alita Zabrecky 0-1), Williams College 6-21

(Jennie Harding 2-4; Chessie Jackson 2-8; Jill Greenberg 1-2; Claire Baecher

1-4; Grace Rehnquist 0-3). Fouled out--Muhlenberg College-None, Williams

College-None. Rebounds--Muhlenberg College 43 (Kelly McKeon 13), Williams

College 35 (Claire Baecher 7; Jill Greenberg 7). Assists--Muhlenberg College

5 (Leeann Lanza 1; Kate Clawson 1; Sheila Cook 1; Alexandra Chili 1; Kelly

McKeon 1), Williams College 10 (Chessie Jackson 4). Total fouls--Muhlenberg

College 9, Williams College 13. Technical fouls--Muhlenberg College-None,

Williams College-None. A-171

Muhlenberg will advance to play the winner of the Rochester/Daniel Webster

Alexandra Chili hits game-winning three-pointer with under two seconds left