ROSEMONT, Pa. - Rosemont College's women's basketball team faced off against the Baptist Bible Defenders today in a close-fought contest. The game featured nine ties and nine lead changes and the teams could not put distance between each other, but at the end the Defenders sank two clutch free throws to earn the victory by the final score of 63-61. The loss dropped Rosemont's overall record to 2-4 (0-3 CSAC) and the Defenders remained undefeated in the conference (4-2, 2-0 CSAC).
Things looked good for the home side when, after a trey by first year Alex Gravenese (Audubon, N.J.), the Ravens were up 18-9 with 11:10 left in the first. The Defenders stormed back with a 12-2 run to take a 22-21 lead with 4:55 left in the first. The teams played closely until the break with Baptist Bible leading Rosemont 29-27 after the first 20 minutes of play.
The largest lead for any team in the second half was a six-point 39-33 Defender advantage with 14:39 remaining but the visitors couldn't shake the Ravens leading to a last-second showdown. With 31 seconds left and the score tied 61-61, Rosemont missed the front half of a 1-and-1. Baptist Bible's Jessica White was fouled with 11 seconds remaining and she buried both free throw attempts to put Baptist Bible up 63-61. Rosemont had a last shot at the basket just at the buzzer, but the shot would not go.
The Ravens placed three players in double-digits in scoring. first year Liz Coyne (West Chester, Pa.) led all players with 21 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field. Coyne also had 8 boards. First year Gravinese scored 16 and junior Ashley Montecchio (Aston, Pa.) had her fourth consecutive double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds). Senior Vanessa Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa.) grabbed 10 caroms to co-lead in that stat.
Baptist Bible placed four players in double-figures (Jessica White-17, Lexi Thomas-12, Ruth Butts-11, Kacee Rava-10). White led the Defenders with nine rebounds.
The women return to the Alumnae Hall hardwood on Monday, 12/5, as they host Penn State-Berks in a non-conference game at 7:00pm.