RallyNorth.net

Tue, Jan 08, 2008 06:30 PM @ Newburyport

Team	Final
Wilmington	59
Newburyport	55

Newburyport's late surge falls short in overtime

Wednesday, January, 09 By John Shimer
Staff writer

Trailing 51-48 with 15.7 seconds to spare in last night's game against Wilmington, Newburyport found itself down three points with only one realistic possession to tie the score. Clippers co-captain Taylor Hickman brought the ball up the court under duress and found Lindsey Tomasz off the curl for an open look.

The hero of Friday night's victory over Georgetown missed her jumper, and a desperate scramble ensued. Newburyport co-captain Kirsten Hadwen came away with the ball and astutely found Hickman open at the top of the key for one last hope.

Her rainmaker hung in the air, the buzzer sounded, and the next sound was that of the ball clanking off the back rim, and swooshing home to send the game into overtime. Unfortunately for the Clippers, that was the last of their heroics. They dropped the back-and-forth battle to the Wildcats, 59-55, in overtime.

Bresnahan led the Clippers with 16 points. Hickman added 11. Wilmington's Amy Fahey led all scorers with 18 points. Alyssa Brown added 15 for Wilmington (4-4). Stephanie Sauve had 10.

The home team didn't go out without a fight, though, in overtime.

As was the case in regulation, Taylor Bresnahan's energy gave the Clippers the early advantage in the extra period. After Newburyport came up with a stop on the defensive end, Hannah Chase made an up-and-under, left-handed, scoop-shot to double the Clipper lead (55-51).

Chase's bucket would prove to be Newburyport's last points on the night.

Chase and her replacement Sam Barribeault fouled out in the opening minutes of overtime, giving an already-taller Wilmington team a massive inside advantage. Costly turnovers devastated the Clippers, and Brown took over at the free-throw line for the Wildcats, hitting seven of eight attempts.

All eight of Wilmington's overtime points came from the line.

"We just had some inopportune turnovers at the end of the game thanks to some sloppy passing," Newburyport coach Neil Reardon said. "It cost us the game. It was a great game to be a part of."

Early in the second half, Wilmington hurt the Clippers with its length and superior offensive rebounding ability, getting easy second chance looks that lead to free throws or layups.

For the half, the Wildcats held a 17-7 free-throw-attempt advantage, making 14 of those attempts. Wilmington guard Stephanie Sauve hit a 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter, giving the Wildcats an eight-point lead that looked likely to hold up.

However, Bresnahan would bring her team back with back-to-back drives to the hoop resulting in layups. A big rebound from Tomasz sparked a coast-to-coast drive for a layup that got the Clippers within two. Chase then hit both shots of her one-and-one free throws before Bresnahan hit one of two at the line.

Despite Hickman's heroics, Wilmington's length eventually proved to be the difference.

"It's usually a battle of quickness vs. tall for us," Reardon said. "I had no complaints with our scrappiness, but tonight we were a step slow on defense. They were very well-coached, attacking us down low. We will take the knowledge of this loss with us to the next game."