Women's Basketball 2/21/2015 5:47:00 PM

Women’s Basketball grabs program record tenth straight win with OT victory over UNE

Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Basketball team closed out the regular season with a 74-68 overtime victory over the University of New England Saturday afternoon, setting a new program record in the process with their tenth straight victory.

Prior to the game, senior guard Lisa Lutz (Downers Grove, Ill.) was honored for her contributions to the RWU Women's Basketball program over the past four years.

Both teams competed hard in a thrilling game, evidenced by nine ties and five lead changes. The Nor'Easters held the advantage early on, going up by as many as 12 in the first half. However, the Hawks continued to fight their way back into the game, coming back within four with under a minute to play in the first half.

Angelica Ariola (Prospect, Conn.) sank a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left to make it a 26-30 game in favor of UNE. Yet most notably, the two points gave her 1,000 points for her career, becoming the eighth player in school history to achieve the milestone. She would later knock down two more freebies in the final second to give RWU its first lead of the game, a 31-30 advantage going into halftime.

In the second half, Alanna Vose (Cushing, Maine) helped extend the UNE lead to five (38-33) early in the period before Ariola later tied the game at 40 with a three. Roger Williams held a brief lead before the Nor'Easters went back on top. Brooke Flaherty (Portland, Maine) hit a jumper to give UNE its largest lead of the period, a 50-44 advantage with 11:49 to play.

The Hawks continued to pick away at the deficit, with Emma Klis (East Northport, N.Y.) coming through with a jumper to give RWU a 61-59 lead with 3:14 left to play. Neither team would be able to score over the next three minutes, until Vose drained the game-tying foul shots with 11.5 seconds left to play. Roger Williams would not be able to get a shot off on their possession, sending the game to overtime.

In the extra period, Katie Lowerre (Sharon, Mass.) knocked down a shot to give RWU a lead they would never give back. Rachel Battista (Johnston, R.I.) had the dagger for RWU, draining a deep three-pointer from the left elbow to put RWU up by five (72-67) with just under 33 seconds to play.

Ariola finished with 19 points and four rebounds, while Teagan Dunn (Burlington, Conn.) setting new career highs with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocked shots. Lowerre and Klis each added 12, while the lone Hawk senior Lutz did not score but tied a career-high with six assists.

Vose led all players with 22 points to go along with five rebounds. Kelly Coleman (Portland, Conn.) finished with a double-double with 15 points and ten boards. Meghan Gribbin (Windham, Maine) went for nine points and nine assists.

Roger Williams (19-6, 16-2 CCC) will enter the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament as the #2 seed and will host #7 Endicott on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in the CCC Quarterfinals. UNE (20-5, 16-2 CCC) earns the top seed via tiebreaker and will welcome #8 Wentworth at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

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