BEVERLY, Mass. – Junior guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) made a driving layup with just four tenths of a second left on the clock to give the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team the winning margin in a 59-57 victory over host Endicott College this afternoon at MacDonald Gymnasium in Beverly, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 2-2 on the season, while the Gulls fall to 0-3.
Neither team led by more than three points in a first half that saw nine lead changes. The teams traded the lead five more times in the third quarter and neither team led by more than four points.
Fernandes finished with a game-high 19 points and added four rebounds, three assists and two steals for Wheaton, while sophomore forward Nasha Arnold (North Reading, Mass.) finished a rebound short of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Madeline Duwe (Greenville, S.C.) scored seven points in just eight minutes off the bench in addition to a pair of crucial steals in the fourth quarter.
Junior guard Libby Fleming (Bangor, Maine) paced Endicott with 16 points to go with nine rebounds and a block and junior forward Sarah Dempsey (Windham, N.H.) netted 15 points, pulled down nine rebounds, came up with three steals, dished out an assist and blocked a shot. First year guard Emma Shinney (Wakefield, Mass.) contributed with 14 points on 6-10 shooting, including 2-3 from three-point range, in addition to seven rebounds, six assists and a block.
Duwe converted one of two free throws to give the Lyons a 55-49 advantage with just 4:48 to play in the game and match their biggest lead of the afternoon. The Gulls ripped off six straight points, including four from Dempsey, to knot the game at 55-55 with 2:03 showing on the fourth quarter clock. Sophomore forward Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) made a layup to give Wheaton a two-point lead at the 1:49 mark. The Lyons looked to run out the clock to secure the victory, but Endicott re-tied the game with 4.8 seconds remaining on a Fleming layup to pull the home team even at 57-57. Wheaton called timeout to advance the ball to halfcourt to set up Fernandes' game-winning drive.
Fernandes gave the Lyons an early 9-6 lead on a fast break layup with 4:07 to go in the opening quarter. Endicott closed out the period with the final five points, including a fast break layup from junior guard Katelyn Konareski (Milford, Conn.) to give the Gulls an 11-9 lead before the first quarter ended.
Fleming completed a three-point play with a free throw following a layup to increase Endicott's lead to 19-16 with 5:52 remaining in the second quarter. Wheaton responded with a 9-4 stretch, fueled by six points from Fernandes, to give the Lyons a 25-23 margin at the 1:35 mark of the second period. Shinney countered for the Gulls with a triple with 84 seconds left in the half to give them a 26-25 edge, before taking a 27-25 lead into the intermission.
Wheaton scored the first six points of the third quarter, including four from Fernandes, to take a 31-27 lead with 5:59 to play in the period, before Endicott matched its guests with six unanswered points, capped by a three-ball from Shinney to restore the home team's lead at 33-31 with 5:02 showing in the quarter.
Shinney made a fast break layup at the 3:10 mark to push the Gulls advantage to 39-35, before a 9-2 blitz capped by a Duwe three-point play, gave the Lyons a 44-41 lead. The teams traded the lead two more times before sophomore guard Kennis Jasperson (Sacramento, Calif.) buried a three-pointer with just 31 seconds to play in the period to give Wheaton a 47-45 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
The Lyons return to the court on Tuesday, November 21 when they travel to Providence, R.I. to take on Johnson Wales University for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off, while Endicott heads to Boston, Mass. to play Emerson on the same night at 5:00 p.m.
