Trailing by 22 points with 11:22 to play, the Centre College women's basketball team climbed all the way back to within two points with six seconds to go, but a three-point attempt to win the game rimmed out and the Colonels fell 74-72 to Hanover College Tuesday, Nov. 27 in Danville, Ky.
Centre falls to 1-5 overall with the five losses coming against teams that have combined to go 16-5 in the early going, including a pair of top 20 teams. Hanover remains unbeaten and improves to 3-0 on the season
The Colonels fell behind 11-3 early in the first half, but tied the game 15-15 at the 12:18 mark. Hanover went on a 12-2 run to open up a 10-point lead, and would score eight of the final 10 points of the half to take a 16-point lead (43-27) into the locker room.
The Panthers pushed the lead to 61-39 in the second half, but Centre scored 15 straight points and 24 of the next 28 points to make it a 65-63 game with 3:29 to play. The run was a team effort as eight different players scored in the run.
Junior forward Paige Baechle (Gallatin, Tenn.) hit a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left to make it a one-point game, but Alicia Hopkins answered with two free throws to push the lead back to three.
With less than 20 seconds left, senior guard Bridget Winstead (Franklin, Tenn.) knocked down a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 72-72.
Hanover's Courtney Prater then rushed down the court and hit a lay-up with 5.7 seconds to go to give the Panthers a two-point lead. After a Centre timeout, the Colonels had a three-point attempt from the top of the key, but it didn't go down and the game ended in a 74-72 win for the Panthers.
After shooting only 33.3% (11-33) in the first half, the Colonels hit 13 of their 27 shots (48.1%) in the second half, and committed five less turnovers (24-19) than Hanover.
Baechle had her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. She also added three steals and a pair of assists. Winstead also scored 13 points and had two steals in 30 minutes of action.
Sophomore Hillary Moore (Hyden, Ky.) tallied 11 points and two steals off the bench, while senior forward Chelsea Benham (Taswell, Ind.) added 10 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Prater led all scorers with 23 points on 9 of 15 shooting. Hopkins finished with 12 points and six assists, and Shauna Watson chipped in 11 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals.
Centre will now take to the road for the entire month of December. Up next for the Colonels is their first Southern Athletic Association (SAA) game against Sewanee Saturday, Dec. 1 in Sewanee, Tenn.