Women’s Basketball Overcomes 28-Point Deficit For 76-74 Overtime Victory At Caldwell

Women’s Basketball Overcomes 28-Point Deficit For 76-74 Overtime Victory At Caldwell

CALDWELL, N.J. – Despite never leading during regulation and trailing by 28 against host Caldwell University late in the third quarter of Wednesday evening's Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest, the Concordia College New York women's basketball team rallied to even the score for the first time since tip-off with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter before completing the comeback in overtime, 76-74.

NOTES
• Concordia improves to 3-11, 2-3 in CACC action.

• Caldwell falls to 2-12, 2-3 in league play.

• The 30 made field goals by Concordia ties for the seventh-most in program history.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Freshman guard Christina Brown (Ardmore, Pa.) scored 20 points with a career-high eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals which ties her personal best.

• Freshman guard Jaylene Brown (Bronx, N.Y.) recorded her first collegiate double-double behind 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds,

• Senior guard Nicole Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) chipped in 11 points with four steals.

• Sophomore guard Sara Hopkins (Mountain Top, Pa.) added 12 points.

• For Caldwell, Tina Lebron scored 24 points while Alessia Smaldone scored 11 points with 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Caldwell opened the contest with the initial 20 points before a junior guard Shanice Graves' (Brooklyn, N.Y.) jumper got Concordia on the scoreboard with 1:42 remaining in the first quarter. C. Brown responded to a pair of Caldwell free throws with a layup in the final minute of the stanza, but back-to-back triples by the host created a 28-4 score at the end of the quarter.

• Concordia used a C. Brown free throw and Graves basket to start the second quarter, but back-to-back Cougar triples extended the separation to 34-7 with 7:27 remaining in the half. The Clippers responded behind a 7-0 spurt, but a  Caldwell three pointer ended the run and made it 37-14 with 1:18 left in the half. Each side added a triple to its total in the final minute to make it 40-17 at the intermission.

• After splitting the opening 10 points of the second half, the Clippers scored four unanswered to make it 45-26 with 6:35 left in the third quarter. Caldwell used a 13-4 stretch to create a game-high 28-point lead at 58-30, with the Clippers countering with an 11-2 rally to end the quarter and make it 60-41 going into the final 10 minutes.

• Concordia carried its run into the fourth quarter, scoring 10-straight points to cut the deficit down to single digits at 60-51 with 8:27 remaining in regulation. The two sides split the ensuing six points to maintain the nine-point separation before a 7-0 Clippers' run made it a one-possession contest at 63-61 with 2:54 left in the fourth quarter. Caldwell scored back-to-back baskets to create separation, but a 6-0 response by Concordia knotted the score at 67-all with 35 seconds left. Neither side scored over the final 35 ticks of regulation, sending the contest to overtime.

• Following a Caldwell free throw for the first point of overtime, Concordia scored a pair of points from the charity stripe to take its first lead of the night at 69-68 with 3:21 remaining. The Cougars evened the score off a made free throw, with the two sides exchanging two points to keep the score locked before three-straight points from the Clippers created a 74-71 with 52 seconds left. Caldwell knotted the score off a triple with 30 seconds remaining, with freshman forward Jaayden Lafontant (Theills, N.Y.) scoring the game-winning with two seconds left.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The Clippers converted on 30-73 shots, going 9-27 from three-point territory and 7-20 from the free throw line.

• Caldwell finished 26-62 from the field, 13-21 from distance and 9-13 from the free throw line.

• Concordia recorded 14 assists while Caldwell had 17.

• Caldwell held a 48-42 advantage in rebounds.

• Concordia committed 18 turnovers, resulting in 15 points for Caldwell. The host had 29 turnovers, leading to 31 points.

• Concordia recorded 15 steals with four blocks while the Cougars had five steals with one block.

• Concordia got 17 points from its bench while Caldwell got 16.

UP NEXT
The women's basketball team travels to defending CACC Tournament Champion Jefferson University on Saturday, Jan. 11 for a 2 p.m. contest.

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