SCRANTON, Pa. - Sophomore guard Bridgette Mann (Canadensis, Pa./Wallenpaupack) picked the perfect time to make her first three pointer in 11 attempts on the evening, as she drained a game-winning triple with less than one second left in regulation to lift the University of Scranton women's basketball team to a come-from-behind 49-48 victory over University of New England on Friday night in front of a capacity crown at the John Long Center in the First Round of the 2017 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball tournament.
The memorable comeback win, which was the 1,000th in the history of the University of Scranton women's basketball program, puts the Lady Royals (now 25-3 overall) into the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, where they will face off with SUNY-Poly, who won their First Round game over Eastern Connecticut State earlier on Friday, 80-72.
University of New England ended their season in the heartbreaking defeat, finishing with a 23-6 overall record.
To open the ballgame, the visiting Nor'easters grabbed the lead, opening a four-point edge after the first quarter at 14-10. Scranton quickly tied the game up at 14-all in the first two minutes of the second quarter, but UNE remained in the lead for the majority of the frame, as a three late in the period gave the Nor'easters a 26-21 lead entering intermission.
In the third, the visitors extended their lead out to double-digits quickly, as a 6-0 spurt out of the break gave the Nor'easters their biggest lead of the night at 32-21.
But, Scranton attacked back facing their first double-digit deficit of the game, as they went on an 8-0 run over the next few minutes to slice the UNE lead down to 32-29.
However, the Nor'easters punched back, ending the quarter on a 7-0 spurt that was punctuated by a banked in three-pointer at the buzzer to give themselves a double-digit lead entering the fourth quarter at 39-29.
Staring the end of their season square in the face, the Lady Royals were fantastic on defense in the fourth quarter, as they held UNE to just nine points total.
But, the closest Scranton came up until the final moments of regulation to the Nor'easter lead was three points (45-42 with 3:16 left), as UNE opened a 48-42 lead with 2:16 left after a pair of made free throws.
This would be the final time the rest of the game that UNE would score.
First, senior forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) made a lay-up with two minutes left to cut the deficit down to 48-44.
After both teams traded missed baskets, Payonk made a huge steal and dished it off to junior Katie Broderick (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield), who made a lay-up on Scranton's end to cut the UNE lead down even further at 48-46 with under a minute left.
On UNE's next possession, they missed two attempts from the field, as Payonk eventually grabbed her 11th defensive rebound of the game to give the Lady Royals one last chance with 22 seconds left.
On the Lady Royals possession, Mann missed on a three-point attempt with 10 seconds left (her 10th in a row from outside the arc), but Payonk was able to collect the offensive rebound, giving Scranton one last opportunity to either tie the game or win it in regulation with a three.
After a timeout, Scranton had six seconds to work with. Payonk eventually handed the ball off to an open Mann, who hit nothing but the bottom of the net on a three-point shot from the wing to give the Lady Royals their first lead of the night at 49-48 with six-tenths of a second left and send the Long Center into a frenzy.
On UNE's final possession, an inbounds pass sailed out of bounds, as the Lady Royals celebrated the incredible come-from-behind at center court when the final buzzer sounded.
Overall, senior forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) led the Lady Royals in the scoring department for the evening, finishing with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Mann finished with 12 points, while Payonk grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds off the glass in the victory.
UNE was led in the defeat by Alicia Brown, who had 12 points on the evening.
Scranton now faces off with SUNY-Poly in tomorrow's Second Round matchup in the Long Center, which will begin at 5 p.m. The Wildcats were led in their win over Eastern Connecticut State in the first round by guard Stevie Ray, who poured in 43 points.
--LADY ROYALS--