MADISON, Wis. – Forgive Edgewood College head coach Casey Thousand if she takes a couple of Alka-Seltzer tablets to settle her stomach tonight. Her Edgewood College women's basketball team let a 10-point first half lead slip away and then had to rally in the final eight minutes for a 71-62 win over Rockford University. With the win, the Eagles move into sole possession of sixth place in the NACC.
Edgewood College (7-9, 6-5 NACC) seemed ready to throw the game into cruise control midway through the first half. The Eagles transition game resulted in a pair of fastbreak layups for Hannah Menzia which put Edgewood College ahead 18-11. Then four straight points from Courtney Spangler followed by a basket from Ellen Hayden gave the Eagles their largest lead of the first half at 28-18 with just under nine minutes to go. Rockford University (3-12, 2-8 NACC) began to turn the tide behind their aggressive defense. The Regents held the Eagles scoreless for the final 3:52 of the half, finishing with a 12-4 run to trail by just two points at the break.
Things got worse for the Eagles before they got better as Edgewood College went just one for their first 11 shots of the second half. Back-to-back three-point baskets by Rockford's Mallorie Getzelman and Amanda Davis gave the Regents their largest lead of the night at 43-37 with 12 minutes to play. Edgewood College still trailed by five points whenRachel Pope started the final push with a big three-point play and Hayden tied the game 49-49 on the next possession with a short jumper. However, Rockford University's Callie Rezin scored back-to-back baskets to put the Regents back in front 53-49.
Ultimately, it was the three-point shot that won the game for the Eagles. Jazmin Little gave Edgewood College their first lead since halftime at 58-57 with a three-pointer from the right wing. Sierra Jiran followed two possessions later with a three-pointer, before Zoey Dougherty stuck a dagger in the Regents with another three-point basket for a 64-57 lead with less than two minutes on the clock. Pope assisted on all three of those long range bombs. The Eagles free throw shooting took over from there, as Edgewood College connected on seven of eight free throws down the stretch and 16-for-17 (94.1 percent) for the game.
Pope led the Eagles in scoring for the 11th time this season, scoring 18 points to go with six rebounds and five assists. Jiran came up huge off the bench matching her career-high with 16 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Mariah Hillscored 11 points to give the Eagles three players in double figures. Dougherty's big triple gave her nine points on the night, establishing a new career-high.
Rockford received 19 points from Davis, including three three-point baskets. Diamond Willams notched a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. The Regents dominated the offensive glass with 19 offensive rebounds and collected 19 steals, but were done in by shooting just 34.7 percent from the field.
Edgewood College moved back above .500 in the NACC with the win and sit two games behind next Tuesday's home opponent Concordia University Wisconsin. The Falcons defeated the Eagles 74-67 in Mequon in early December. Game time on January 20th is 7:00 p.m. with a live broadcast on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.