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| The final buzzer touched off
a celebration at Eastern. Eastern Eagles athletics photo |
Eastern ended FDU-Florham's 53-game winning streak in dramatic fashion, 88-87 in overtime in Saturday's early action.
Trailing 86-85 in the final minute of overtime, FDU-Florham point guard Alyssa McDonough found Shalette Brown under the rim for two with 10 seconds left.
The Eagles immediately inbounded the ball and got it to Emily Lavin who streaked into the lane and scored with five seconds left. FDU-Florham had one final shot, but Lavin blocked it and her teammate Meghan Nowak grabbed the loose ball, setting off a celebration with the men's basketball team rushing the court and surrounding the Eastern women.
Nowak had 24 points and 13 rebounds and Lavin had 15 points and 15 rebounds with eight blocked shots as Eastern improves to 17-4, 9-1 in the Freedom Conference. FDU-Florham drops to 20-1, 9-1. It's the Devils' first loss since March 2013.
Who will take FDU's place at the top of the national rankings? No. 2 Thomas More made its case by blitzing Thiel 100-33. So did No. 3 St. Thomas by beating Carleton 80-55 and No. 4 George Fox by topping Pacific Lutheran 85-49. No. 6 Calvin is also unbeaten after taking care of Adrian 80-59.
No. 5 Tufts remained unbeaten in the NESCAC, edging No. 25 Williams on the road, 54-50. Michela North had a game-high 16 points and added 11 rebounds for the Jumbos (21-1, 8-0). Tufts closes the NESCAC regular season next week with home games vs. Colby and Bowdoin, with Bowdoin also unbeaten in NESCAC play.
No. 24 North Central (Ill.) reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since its Final Four season of 1984, as the Cardinals defeated Illinois Wesleyan 96-81. With the game knotted 64-64 with 9:30 to play in regulation, the Cardinals went on a pivotal run over the next two and a half minutes, a 15-4 stretch highlighted by eight points from Tess Godhardt while Maryssa Cladis added a lay-in and a pair of free throws to give North Central a decisive 79-68 advantage. Godhardt led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, including 19 points in the second half.
Melissa Tobie and Janitza Aquino scored 22 points apiece and combined to shoot 6-for-13 from 3-point range as No. 9 Montclair State won 66-50 at Rutgers-Camden. It was the seventh consecutive victory for the Red Hawks, who are tied with Richard Stockton at the top of the NJAC standings with three games remaining. Stockton kept pace with an 81-63 win at Ramapo.
No. 18 Salisbury took a two-game lead at the top of the Capital Athletic Conference and won its 11th consecutive game, defeating Mary Washington 65-54. Melanie Mocniak led the Sea Gulls with 14 points. Salisbury's only loss on the season was a Dec. 29 game at Montclair State.
Kristen Thompson scored a game-high 25 points and Jenna Erwin added 21 off the bench as Capital knocked off No. 23 John Carroll 87-79. The Blue Streaks fell out of a three-way tie for first in the OAC, one game behind Baldwin Wallace and Ohio Northern which both won on Saturday. Alex McKenzie scored the 1,000th point of her career at No. 15 Transylvania but the Pioneers didn't need any scoring from her to roll over Anderson 98-51.
Beyond the Top 25: Green Knights on the march again
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| Janaya Bradley and her Regis teammates have never lost a regular season game to a conference opponent. |
St. Norbert opened the second half on a 15-5 run and pulled away from the Buccaneers for an 83-62 victory that guarantees the Green Knights at least a share of the MWC title. St. Norbert leads Carroll, which lost to Grinnell, by three games with three to play. Brianna Byrne led the Green Knights with 29 points on 11-for-19 shooting.
Regis won its 67th consecutive NECC game, defeating Newbury 77-61. The Pride last lost a conference game on Feb. 5, 2011.
McDaniel scratched past Haverford 50-47 in a critical Centennial Conference matchup. The teams shot a combined 27 percent from the floor (35-for-128), but the Green Terror got 23 points from Lindsey Nichols, including 8-for-8 from the free throw line. McDaniel improved to 20-1, 13-1 in conference and stayed two games in front of Muhlenberg, which beat Gettysburg 68-53.
Cassidy Chapko hit a jumper with 19 seconds left in overtime and Cortland State edged Fredonia State 66-65...Shakeerah Sykes hit the 1,000 point milestone for Eastern Mennonite and the Royals defeated Randolph 78-63.