BROOKLYN, N.Y. – In a stunning turn of events late, the Roger Williams University Women's Basketball team saw their historic 2021-22 season come to a close in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament as they fell to Bates College, 68-64 in overtime at the
Daniel Lynch '38 Gymnasium on the campus of Saint Francis College on Friday evening. The Bobcats tied the game with a buzzer-beating three at the end of regulation before holding off the Hawks in the extra session.
 
With the win Bates advances to play the winner of New York University and Washington & Lee in the second round. Roger Williams, meanwhile, sees their season end with 25-3 record, the best in program history.
 
Katie Galligan (Pembroke, Mass.) led the Hawks with a career-high 25 points while fellow sophomore Caroline Elie (Rockland, Mass.) posted the first double-double of her career with 12 points and 10 boards. Ariana Dalia (Brick, N.J.) led the offensive charge for the Bobcats with a game-high 27 points.
 
Hawk Highlights
Katie Galligan: 25 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists
Caroline Elie: 12 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 steals
Karli Opalka: 10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals
Kendi Barnard: 7 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 blocks, 1 steal
 
For The Opponents
Ariana Dalia: 27 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 steals
Meghan Graff: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Mia Roy: 12 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Brianna Gadaleta: 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
 
How It Happened
After winning the opening tip, Roger Williams was the first to get in the scoring column. After Caroline Elie (Rockland, Mass.) missed the right-handed layup, Kendi Barnard (Bedford, N.H.) was in perfect positioning to clean up the mess, coming across the lane to corral the offensive board and then connected on the lefty jump hook from the low post. From there the Hawks seemed to have some nerves, as they were a little loose with the basketball and Bates took advantage with a 9-0 stretch. RWU halted the run with a three-point possession as Barnard split a pair at the charity stripe, Sophie Araneo (Branford, Conn.) chased down the offensive board and Katie Galligan (Pembroke, Mass.) finished a layup that sparked six consecutive points by the sophomore to get the game even at nine. The defenses ruled from there, but it was the Bobcats who ended the first frame with the 13-11 edge.
 
Galligan led all players in scoring with eight in the frame, but the Hawks did not get much else as they shot 35.7% in the period with seven turnovers. They did good work defensively holding the Bobcats to just 27.8% shooting from the field and did not allow the opposition to make any of their five attempts from range.
 
The defenses continued to control the game over the next five minutes of action until the Hawks turned up the tempo, a transition three-point play the old fashion way by Galligan off a perfect feed by Sam Mancinelli (Peabody, Mass.) got things going. A jumper by Ariana Dalia (Brick, N.J.) cut the advantage to one but a pair in the low post from Araneo, a fast break layup by Barnard off another great feed by Mancinelli, and four makes from the line split between Galligan and Barnard constituted an 8-2 segment that would get the lead out to seven, the largest of the half for Roger Williams. Bates concluded another quarter with a pair from the charity stripe, but the Hawks held a 28-23 edge heading into the locker room.
 
The Bobcats did see their field goal percentage rise to 29.0% by the end of the second quarter but they still could not find the bottom of the net from distance over their eight attempts from range. Roger Williams stayed steady shooting 38.5% from the field while they also connected on all seven of their attempts from the charity stripe to stake themselves to their lead.
 
The Bobcats could not find traction to open the third with a missed pull-up three and a trio of turnovers, the first of which produced a layup in transition, but the Hawks could not take advantage outside of that. Meghan Graff (South Portland, Maine) responded with eight-straight points for Bates, the last three coming from their first triple of the contest off glass and all of a sudden, the Bobcats were in the lead again. Karli Opalka (Southbury, Conn.) knocked down a baseline jumper to end the run, then finished a layup before Dalia buried a three to tie the score. Undeterred, The Hawks finished by scoring five of the next six points to lead by four into the fourth.
 
Bates opened the final quarter of regulation by rattling off nine consecutive points, the final seven of which were by Dalia, but RWU would respond. Araneo made a short two through contact then Galligan converted a pull-up two in transition before Elie rattled off nine-straight to grab their largest lead of the night by eight. Dalia and Opalka traded two pointers and with an eight-point lead and three minutes remaining, Roger Williams appeared to be firmly in the driver's seat. But Bates found a way, clawing their way back with a Dalia jumper, five free throws from Mia Roy (Brooklyn, N.Y.), including three after she was fouled on a missed attempt from distance, and two more from the charity stripe from Graff. That run along with some help from a trio of missed free throws by the Hawks down the stretch left the door ever so slightly open as they trailed by three with eight seconds remaining. Out of a Bates timeout, the pass was deflected and rolled loosely into the backcourt, the Bobcats won the race to the contested loose ball and found a way to get it to Roy who connected on a circus shot at the horn to send it to an extra session.
 
In overtime, it was all defense for the first two minutes with the only points coming from Roy at the free throw line. Galligan did all she could to keep the Hawks season alive with six points but on every occasion, the Bobcats had an answer, and they took the lead for good on a layup by Dalia before finishing the job at the free throw line.
 
In an uncharacteristic game for RWU as they committed 19 turnovers as a team leading to 25 points for Bates, a number that proved to be costly. They did shoot better from the field, connecting on 37.9% of their shots against 34.9% for Bates but the Hawks also went 0-for-14 from three and only 14-of-22 from the line, a mark that also loomed large.
 
What's Next
This concludes the 2021-22 season for the Roger Williams University Women's Basketball team.