NEW LONDON, N.H. – February 29, 2012 – Sophomore Ashley Fruzzetti (Raynham, Mass.) hit the game-winning three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining to lift the Colby-Sawyer women's basketball team past Suffolk in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) quarterfinals on Wednesday evening.
The Chargers, who improve to 22-7 on the season, will play at top-seed Keene State on Saturday at 1:00 pm. Keene defeated number-eight seed Regis, 58-36 on Wednesday evening. Suffolk ends its season with an 18-10 record.
Freshman Kelsey Cahill (Cumberland, R.I.) led the Chargers with her sixth double-double of the season. She scored a team-high 16 points and pulled down a game best 12 rebounds. Junior Taylor DeSanty (North Adams, Mass.) added 14 points and moved into 4th on Colby-Sawyer's all-time scoring list. Junior Cailin Bullett (Millbury, Mass.) contributed 13 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Fruzzetti chipped in 13 points and a game best four steals.
Senior Meghan Black (Roslindale, Mass.) led all scorers with 19 points on 8-13 shooting. She added eight boards and four assists. Junior Jacqueline Vienneau (Salem, N.H.) and senior Mary Garon (Auburn, N.H.) each added 11 points. Freshman Iliana Quadri (Sudbury, Mass.) brought down eight rebounds.
Colby-Sawyer jumped out to a 12-5 run capped off by a DeSanty layup. Suffolk responded with a 9-0 run, five points coming from Black, to take their first lead of the game at 14-12. The teams traded baskets over the next four minutes, before the Rams began to gain momentum. Holding a 22-19 lead with seven minutes left in the half, Suffolk went on a 7-0 spurt to gain their biggest advantage of the half at 29-19. Each team scored eight points down the stretch as the half ended in Suffolk's favor 37-27. The Rams controlled the boards in the first half by a 31-11 margin.
The teams traded the first two hoops of the second half before Vienneau connected on a trey for Suffolk's biggest lead of the game of 13 (42-29). The Chargers began to take control of the glass over the next few minutes and chipped away at the deficit. Taylor DeSanty brought Colby-Sawyer all the way back to tie the game at 49-49 on a layup at the 10:52 mark. The visitors quickly regained the lead and held onto it for the next three minutes before a Cahill layup knotted the game up once again at 56-56. The action went back and forth for the remainder of the half and a Meghan Black jumper tied the scored for the seventh time in the half at 66-66. The Rams had a chance to take the lead with less than 30 seconds to go by a missed shot by Garon gave the ball back to the home team. Fruzzetti took advantage of an open look as she canned her third three pointer of the game to propel Colby-Sawyer to the victory. Suffolk tossed a desperation shot from the corner at the buzzer, but it bounced off the rim and out of play.