NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team defeated The College of Saint Rose, 56-46, in the Owls' final Northeast 10 Conference home game of the season. With the win, the Owls improves to 10-16 overall and 4-13 in the NE10, while the Golden Knights drop to 7-18 overall and 2-16 in conference play.
Jessica Fressle (Levittown, N.Y.) led all scorers with 19 points, while collecting five rounds and a game-high four steals. Imani Wheeler (Dumfries, Va.) had 16 points to go along with a game-high seven assists and two steals, while Alexa Kellner (Stamford, Conn.) finished with 11 points and a team-leading nine rebounds.
How It Happened
First Half
- Wheeler came out firing as she knocked down back-to-back three's to start the Owls' scoring. The Owls' senior and Fressle accounted for all of the Owls' 15 points in the first quarter as the duo went back-and-forth through the first 10 minutes.
- Southern's biggest lead of the first quarter, 13-6, came off a three-pointer from Fressle as the Owls converted on three of their first five attempts from behind the arc.
- St. Rose took control over the final four minutes of the first quarter with an 11-2 run to take a 17-15 lead into the first intermission.
- Southern doubled-up Saint Rose in the second quarter, outscoring the Golden Knights 16-8 to take a 31-25 lead into the half.
- The Owls spread the scoring around in the second frame while Kellner's two three-pointers gave her a team-leading six points in the quarter. Wheeler continued to dominate as she pushed her halftime total to 13 to lead the Owls while Fressle chipped in four more to give her 11 at the break.
Second Half
- Leading by six to start the half, Kellner pushed the Owls' lead to nine with a three-pointer a minute into the second half.
- St. Rose began to chip away at Southern's lead as they pulled within five before a Fressle lay-up and a three-pointer by Aaliyah Walker (Toronto, Ontario) gave the Owls a nine-point lead with three minutes to play.
- After another St. Rose run that cut Southern's lead to three with a minute to play in the third quarter, Fressle knocked down another big three-pointer to send the game to the final quarter with the Owls leading by six, 43-37.
- Southern outshot Saint Rose in the final frame, converting on 5-of-11 from the floor including 2-of-5 from three-point range as they outscored the Golden Knights, 13-9, over the final 10 minutes.
- The Owls managed back-to-back three-pointers from Fressley and Enaija Lassiter (Boston, Mass.), followed by a pair of jumpers from Paula Tattari as they continued to roll over the Golden Knights who hit on just 2-of-9 down the stretch.
- The Owls led by as many as 15 points before St. Rose scored the final five points of the game.
Notes
- Prior to the start of the game, Southern Connecticut honored Paula Tattari, Aaliyah Walker and Imani Wheeler as part of Senior Day festivities.
- Fressle has been on a tear lately, averaging 20.8 points over her last five games. In that span, she is shooting 40.8% (31-76) from the floor and 48.5% (16-33) from three-point range.
- Fressle's 16 three-pointers in the Owls' last five games leads the team, followed by Kellner (13) and Wheeler (10) in the span.
- Kellner has hit three three-pointers in three-straight games and four of her last five.
- Wheeler has now scored in double digits in 14-straight games – the longest scoring run for the Owls this season.
- In addition, Wheeler has been distributing the ball at an impressive rate with seven-or-more assists in three of her last four games while averaging 6.8 assists per game in that time.
Up Next
The Owls win against St. Rose ended a three-game skid. With the win, and AIC's loss to Pace, Southern will need to win at Adelphi on Tuesday, Feb. 25 and also need AIC to lose to St. Rose to secure the fifth and final spot in the upcoming NE10 Tournament.
