CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – It wasn't easy. It wasn't pretty. But it was a classic. The Ravens ceded a late 10-point advantage in regulation, gave up a Hail Mary three point basket at the buzzer ending the first overtime and persevered to outscore DeSales 10-8 in the second overtime period to eke out a gutsy 72-70 win over the Bulldogs. The Ravens never gave up and showed fortitude to earn their first program victory against DeSales since the teams started to play in 1997. The win pushed Rosemont's record to 2-6 overall while the Bulldogs had their two-game winning streak snapped, falling to 5-3.
The first half was a good indicator of the type of game this would be. Rosemont grabbed the largest lead of the game at the time, 18-13 after Olivia Crenny made a layup. DeSales would quickly make up the difference and the teams battled out to end the first half with Rosemont leading 28-25.
The Ravens took control to start the second half, extending their lead to 39-33 after a Kierra Smith jumper with 13:56 left in the game. At that point it was the largest lead held by either team. Rosemont then outscored DeSales 10-5 over the next 2 ½ minutes to grab a ten point lead at 49-39 with 11:25 left in the game. The Bulldogs would pressure the Ravens and some misfires at the free throw line from the Ravens enabled DeSales to mount a comeback. Two free throws by the Bulldogs' Alex Suk would get DeSales back to within 3 points, 53-50 with 3:19 left. Seconds later, Carly Hislop turned a pass from Nymira Nelson into a jumper to regain a five-point lead, 55-50 with 3:08 left. Those would be the last points that the Ravens would put on the board in regulation, as the usually dependable Liz Coyne missed the front end of three one-and-one opportunities down the stretch to help keep the game within reach for the home side.
A three-ball from DeSales's Megan Baird with 22 seconds left made the score 55-53, when Leilani Naone-Carter fouled out of the game with 5 seconds left. DeSales' Kelly Anthony made both free throws to send the game into overtime.
The nail-biting first overtime period was scoreless until 2:26 were left when Dominique Sellers was fouled. Sellers, who was key for the Ravens at the charity stripe down the stretch, converted both shots to give Rosemont a 57-55 lead. Coyne recovered her stroke from the charity stripe and extended the Raven's lead to 59-55 with two free throws with 2:11 left in overtime. Just 11 seconds later, Megan Baird sunk a pair from the line for DeSales to make the score 59-57 in favor of the Ravens with 2 minutes left.
Coyne was put on the line with 1:39 remaining, and she put the Ravens back ahead by three, sinking another free throw. Baird was fouled again, and she again converted both shots for DeSales to cut Rosemont's lead to 60-59 with 43 seconds left in OT. Brianna Macauley was fouled with 27 seconds left and she converted one of two to put Rosemont back up 61-59. A DeSales turnover gave Rosemont possession with 26 seconds remaining, and again the Ravens were put on the foul line. Under extreme pressure, Sellers forced the Bulldogs to shoot for three, converting 1-of-2 to take a 62-59 lead with 18 seconds left in OT. With the clock winding down and the Ravens shutting off the Bulldogs on defense out to the arc, DeSales' Gabby Scott took a three-point shot from way outside the arc that bounced off of the glass and went through the hoop to tie the game at 62-62 as the buzzer sounded to end the overtime period. It was Scott's first three point bucket of the season.
The Bulldogs would go ahead by two points several times to begin the second overtime period, but layups by Liz Coyne and Brianna Macauley would pull the Ravens even at 66-66 with 3:27 left. Behind 68-66, Jasmyn Parker was left alone outside the arc and she hit a trey to give the Ravens their first lead of the 2OT period, 69-68 with 2:53 left. A couple of Bulldog free throws put the Ravens behind 70-69 with 1:26 left when Dominique Sellers was fouled after grabbing a defensive rebound. She calmly sank her two free throws to grab back the lead for the Ravens, 71-70 with 38 seconds left. A defensive stop by the Ravens resulted in a rebound by Nymira Nelson and a DeSales foul put Liz Coyne back on the line, where she made a free throw to put the Ravens up 72-70 with 9 seconds left in the second OT.
The Bulldogs would grab the defensive rebound, and after each team called a timeout, DeSales' Gabby Scott missed a jumper with two seconds left, and the rebound went out of bounds. The Ravens in-bounded the ball and the clock finally ran out with the Ravens winning the long game in which both teams and their coaches and fans burned a lot of adrenaline.
Liz Coyne led the Ravens with 24 points while reeling in 8 rebounds. Kierra Smith was a monster in the paint, grabbing 16 boards. Dom Sellers made 10-for-11 from the line, mostly in extremely clutch situations, for her 10 points. Carly Hislop also scored in double-figures with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting and a perfect 2-for-2 from the line.
For DeSales, Morgan McCollian scored a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Megan Baird scored 14 while Kelly Anthony had 16 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
The Ravens will need a week to recover from the excitement and effort put out in tonight's game. Fortunately, they have a one-week gap until their next game. They're scheduled to play Delaware Valley College on Monday, 12/15 in Alumnae Hall. The non-conference game is scheduled for a 7pm start.
