BRISTOL, R.I. (Jan. 9) – The Roger Williams University Women’s Basketball team snapped a three-game skid and opened the 2009-10 Commonwealth Coast Conference season with a victory, as the Hawks defeated Nichols College 61-58 Saturday afternoon.
Six lead changes and three ties highlighted a close game where tight defense was featured by both teams, as neither team cracked the 40% mark from the field. Roger Williams held the Bison to only 31% shooting in the game, while the Hawks hit 36.7 percent of their shots in the game. RWU did most of its damage at the foul line, going 23-of-29 at the charity stripe in comparison to 7-of-12 for Nichols.
Roger Williams began the game with an early lead, stretching it out to six before the Bison was able to go on top and build a six-point lead of their own. The Hawks would ultimately come back and hold a 31-28 halftime lead that they maintained throughout a majority of the second half before Nichols mounted a comeback towards the end of the game.
Trailing 59-58 with under a minute to play, the Bison defense came up with a crucial stop to regain possession and potentially take the lead. Two Nichols defenders closed out on Ryan Weekes as she drove into the paint, forcing her to throw the ball behind a cutting Nicole Atchue and out of bounds.
On the ensuing Bison possession, Nichols was able to get the ball into Jessica Nelson (North Providence, R.I.) in the post, who then put up a contested layup that bounced off the back of the rim. Alexandria Lanieri was able to grab the rebound before being fouled with ten seconds remaining.
Lanieri hit the first free throw but could not sink the second, with Nelson grabbing the board for Nichols and calling timeout to set up the final play. On the inbound, Alena Jasinski (Canton, Conn.) brought the ball up the court against a pressing Weekes and picked up her dribble just past half court and into a double team. In the struggle to prevent Jasinski from making the pass, Weekes picked up a foul, sending Jasinski to the line for a 1-and-1 with four seconds left and trailing 58-60.
Jasinski had the opportunity to tie the game by hitting both free throws and sending the game into overtime, but back-rimmed the first free throw, allowing Atchue to come up with the rebound and the foul with under three seconds to go. With the Hawks in the bonus, Atchue missed the first free throw but hit the second, giving the Bison a glimmer of life left. On the inbound, Ashley Robidoux (Milford, Mass.) came down the court and put up a straight-away running three-pointer that bounced off the back of the rim, sealing the win for Roger Williams University.
Lanieri notched her second straight double-double with 16 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Weekes scored 13 points with six rebounds in her first start of the season, while Elizabeth Kilzi added 11 points. Hannah Pirez contributed six points, four rebounds, and strong defense off the bench for the Hawks.
Robidoux scored a game-high 23 points in the game while grabbing eight rebounds. Nelson, Lyndsey Bennett (North Brookfield, Mass.), and Kristina Lindgren (Sturbridge, Mass.) all scored eight points each for Nichols.
Roger Williams (4-7, 1-0 TCCC) continues conference play Tuesday at Western New England College with a 5:30 p.m. game, while Nichols (7-4, 0-1 TCCC) has an 8:00 p.m. matchup with Endicott College on Tuesday as well.
Story courtesy Roger Williams University Sports Information
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