Box Score
WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior Lexi Allen (Southbury, Conn.) nailed a shot from the right corner with 1.2 seconds remaining on the clock, as the Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team snapped a two-game skid by defeating Assumption College 72-71 on Saturday afternoon. Allen finished the game with 14 points, while freshman
Alex Fiola (Fall River, Mass.) recorded a game-high 29 points in the victory. The Owls improved to 5-7 overall, 2-5 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the Greyhounds dropped to 7-5 on the season, 5-3 in Northeast-10 competition.
The two teams traded buckets early on bringing the game to a 14-13 Greyhound lead with 12:17 remaining in the first half. Then ignited by a three-pointer from Fiola, the Owls went on a 17-0 run over the next 3:08, and took a 25-14 lead. However, the Greyhounds capped off a 14-2 run on a lay-up by Bethany Plasski, to retake the lead with 5:02 left in the first half.
The Owls battled back and closed out the half with a 20-8 run of their own, taking a 47-36 lead into halftime. Fiola led all scorers with 19 first half points on 7-9 shooting, 3-5 from behind the arc, while Allen added 12 points of her own for the Owls.
The Greyhounds came out with vengeance and began the second half with a 13-4 run, cutting the Owl lead to one. The Owls clung to a lead for the majority of the second half as Assumption vigorously tried to cut into the lead. With 1:26 remaining in the game, the Greyhounds connected on back-to-back lay-ups by Molly Griffiths and Leslie Lupien, taking a 71-68 lead.
Jacqueline Johannes (Southbury, Conn.) hit a jumper from the corner and cut the Assumption lead down to one. Southern tightened up on defense forcing a turnover that gave the Owls the ball with 8.5 seconds to go in regulation. After the time-out, Allen caught the ball on the right wing, dribbled to the right corner. She fired up a shot with two hands in her face that found the bottom of the net, putting the Owls ahead by one with 1.2 seconds on the clock. Assumption failed to get a shot off, giving the Owls their first win of the new year, 72-21, in Worcester, Mass. at Laska Gymnasium.
Fiola finished with a career-high 29 points on 9-12 shooting from the floor, 4-6 from behind the three-point line and 7-7 from the charity stripe. Allen finished with 14 points, Johannes netted eight and hauled in nine rebounds and
Logan Lentz (Chambersburg, Pa.) recorded six points and five rebounds in the victory for the Owls.
Up next for the Owls, the team will host American International on Jan. 6 at Moore Field House. Game time for this Northeast-10 Conference match-up is set for 5:30 p.m.
