NORTON, Mass. – Freshman guard Sammie Walker (Manchester, N.H./Central) recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and junior forward Alicia Doucet (Manchester, N.H./Central) poured in a career-best 32 points Saturday afternoon as the Plymouth State University women's basketball team outlasted Wheaton College in double overtime, 78-75, in the championship game of Wheaton's Tip-Off Tournament in Emerson Gymnasium.
The Panthers (2-1) needed two overtimes to pull out the win and offset the near heroics of Wheaton sophomore Jeana Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn.), who finished with 24 points. After Doucet made a basket with 36 seconds remaining in regulation to put the visitors up three, 62-59, Trimboli nailed a three-pointer with 9.6 seconds left to force overtime. After Doucet sank a pair of free throws with seven second left in the first overtime to again put PSU ahead by three, Trimboli drained a buzzer-beating triple to push a second extra session. And after Doucet and PSU junior Michaela Galvin (Windham, N.H./Salem) made two free throws each in the final 30 seconds of the second overtime, the Panthers held on for the win when Trimboli couldn't make a third long-range buzzer beater.
Walker, who made three baskets from three-point range and also collected four steals, was named Tournament Most Valuable Player, and Doucet, who was 11-of-28 from the field and 10-of-13 from the free throw line, was an All-Tournament Team selection. Galvin finished with 15 points and six assists, senior Amanda Kania (Manchester, N.H./West) added seven points and 10 boards, and sophomore Colleen O'Hara (Otego, N.Y./Unatego Central) added six points, eight rebounds and five steals.
Junior Gabbie DePalo (Rumson, N.J.) was named to the all-tournament team for Wheaton, which dropped to 1-2.
PSU had a double-digit advantage much of the first half, leading by as many as 14 points (34-20) with six minutes remaining before Wheaton rallied to cut the margin to five points, 39-34 at the intermission. The Lyons opened the second half with back-to-back threes to take the lead, but the teams traded points and the lead most of the second half before Trimboli sent the game into overtime for Wheaton.
Plymouth State is back on the court Tuesday with a non-conference game at Castleton (5:30 p.m.)
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