The Newbury College women's basketball team eliminated an early 14-point deficit to pick up their first victory over Daniel Webster College with the 60-59 victory Tuesday evening. The nation's leading rebounder, junior center Catherine O'Connell (Quincy, Mass.) was a force in the post as she tied her career game-high, dropping 25 points on the Eagles in addition to ripping down 23 boards.
Daniel Webster jumped out in front early, building a 16-2 lead within the first six minutes of the contest. But the Nighthawks responded. Senior guard Kendra Bannister (Washington, D.C.) ripped away a missed lay-up from Eagle senior forward Emily Travis (Swansea, Mass.) and connected with classmate Shayla White (Dorchester, Mass.) for the fast-break lay-up, sparking a 16-4 run to pull the Nighthawks within a possession.
After Daniel Webster freshman Allyssa Marson (Augusta, Maine) pushed the lead back to four with just over seven minutes remaining in the period, sophomore forward Katie Haney (Winchendon, Mass.) knotted up the score at 24. It was a brand new ballgame.
It was a back-and-fourth battle for the remainder of the half because the Eagles were not going away quietly. Senior guard Sarah Paternostro (Glastonbury, Conn.) put Daniel Webster back on top by two with a lay-up at the five minute mark but Haney was there again for the Nighthawks, netting another lay-up 36 seconds later to tie up the contest at 26.
Newbury took their first lead of the game following a Daniel Webster miscue on the next possession. With four minutes remaining in the half, Haney found O'Connell under the boards for the easy lay-up but the Eagles responded and for the second time the contest was at a stalemate. The teams exchanged baskets three times for the remainder of the period as Daniel Webster went to the locker room with the one-point, 32-31 lead.
When the teams returned to court, the momentum from the end of the first half flowed into the second half for the Nighthawks. O'Connell continued to dominate both the offensive and defensive glass, scoring the first points of the half to take the one point lead.
After Daniel Webster senior Kirsten Murphy (Woodstock, Vt.) gave the Eagles the lead back knocking down a pair of free throws, the Nighthawks answered with a 9-0 run that they would not relinquish in over 10 minutes. With just over seven minutes left in the contest, Paternostro nailed a jumper to take the one-point advantage.
It appeared as if momentum was shifting following the jumper but two minutes later, White put a halt to the energy shifter. Picking the pocket of Paternostro with five minutes left to play, White took it back down court for the fast-break bucket, sparking a mini 6-0 run to push the lead to five. But the Eagles answered.
After senior guard Alycia Gervais (Windham, Conn.) cut the deficit to one, draining back-to-back jumpers with two minutes remaining, Newbury senior guard Morganna Machado (Attleboro, Mass.) came through in the clutch. First year guard Nephie Marsh (Brockton, Mass.) found Machado wide open at the top of the key to give the Nighthawks some breathing room. But this game was going down to the wire.
Murphy answered netting a lay-up for the Eagles and making it a one possession game with just over a minute remaining in the contest.
Up by two with 26 seconds left, O'Connell atoned for, what could have been, a costly turnover eight seconds prior by snatching an offensive board out of the air and laying it back in for the put-back to push the Nighthawk lead to four. Which they needed as Marson hit a long range trey from the top of the key at the buzzer.
The victory pulls the Nighthawks into a virtual tie for third place with the Eagles improving to 12-5 in conference action and 14-10 overall while the Eagles fall to 16-8 and 12-5 in the NECC. Newbury returns to the hard-court on Saturday February 18th when they host Southern Vermont College in the regular season, season finale at 12:00 p.m. Before the game the Nighthawks will honor seniors Kendra Bannister, Felicia Jones, Morganna Machado, Shayla White and Rachel Wyszynski as they will be playing in their last regular season home game of their collegiate careers.
Game Notes:
O'Connell set a new career single-season high registering two blocks against the Eagles to give her 62 on the year...In addition to tallying 10 points on offense, Katie Haney limited the reigning NECC Player of the Year Alycia Gervais to just eight points on the night.