By Scott DeWeerd
The Albion College women's basketball team slipped away with a one point win against a desperate Alma College team, 74-73, on Wednesday night. The Scots came into the game winless on the season, but you wouldn't have known it with the fight they put up.
"I'm really surprised they haven't won a game yet," said Albion Coach Doreen Carden. "They're a good team and they put up a good fight. I give them a lot of credit."
The Scots led throughout the entire game and led by as many as 13 points with 17 minutes to play in regulation. With their college basketball careers coming to an end Albion seniors Danielle Fraley and Brett de Bear weren't going to go down without a fight.
"I think Brett and Danielle played with a sense of urgency," said Carden. "They played with emotion."
Fraley contributed 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting while de Bear tacked on 21 points.
Alma jumped out to an 11-9 lead just nine minutes into the game and pinned Albion down until there were just three minutes left when a Fraley jump shot tied the game at 66, renewing the energy in Kresge Gymnasium. Then, with 1:11 remaining, Mikaela Bromley beat the defender off the dribble for an easy layup to give the Britons a 70-69 lead.
The next 50 seconds would feature four lead-changes.
With 50 seconds remaining, Alma's Erica Hansen calmly drained a pair of free throws. But Albion's Bailey Tuttle would respond with a layup to retake the lead. Then, a floater from the middle of the key with 15 seconds left gave Alma a 73-72 advantage, forcing Carden to call a timeout and set up a play.
"The goal was to get the ball to Brett but she gave it up to [Olivia] Savage," Carden said.
Savage's layup attempt flew off the top of the backboard and into the Tuttle's hands who went up strong and finished a layup with two seconds remaining, sealing the comeback win for the Britons.
Tuttle finished with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including the game-winning basket, and it was her first time scoring double-digits in back-to-back games.
The Britons played stellar defense, holding Alma's starting five to just 29 points in the game, and also played efficient offense, shooting 41 percent from the field.
"We played with a lot of emotion in the second half," Carden said. "We played with urgency, we got stops, and we rebounded the ball. In the first half we played to not lose, but in the second half we played to win."