NASHUA, N.H. – The Plymouth State University women's basketball team defeated the Rivier University Raiders, 49-48, in a non-conference game at Muldoon Gymnasium Tuesday night.
The Panthers found themselves behind on three separate occasions in the fourth quarter, including down seven points with five minutes left to play in the back-and-forth match. The Raiders seemed ready to walk away with the victory after knocking down two free throws with 12 seconds on the clock, but in heroic fashion, freshman
Ashley Stephens (Pembroke, N.H.) put home a game-winning layup with two seconds left to snag the victory.
Junior
Bri Wilcox (Londonderry, N.H.) scored 19 points and brought down seven rebounds against her former team, as graduate student
Lea Crompton (Dunbarton, N.H.) added 13 points of her own. Stephens contributed five points and seven rebounds in the winning effort.
Plymouth State improves to 2-1 on the season, while Rivier falls to 2-2.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 49, Rivier 48
- Plymouth State (2-1)
- Rivier (2-2)
Top Performers:
How it Happened:
- Rivier jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with 7:34 on the clock in the first quarter.
- The Panthers tied it up at 4-4 midway through the opening frame.
- The Raiders closed out the first on 11-4 run to go ahead 15-8 through the first ten minutes.
- Plymouth State found itself down 22-8 after Rivier scored the first seven points of the second quarter.
- The Panthers locked down defensively, allowing no more opponent field goals behind a 9-1 run to cut the deficit down to 23-17 at the half.
- Plymouth State stormed right out of the gate scoring the first nine points of the third quarter to take its first lead of the game, 26-23.
- The Panthers outscored Rivier 18-13 in the third to make for an exciting finish down one point, 36-35.
- Rivier opened the fourth on an 8-2 run to put the Raiders up 44-37 with 5:06 remaining in the contest.
- Plymouth State would not roll over, forging from behind again to tie the game up a 46-apiece with just under two minutes left to play.
- The Raiders put home two free throws with 12 seconds on the clock to take a 48-47 advantage, appearing to take home the victory, but in dramatic fashion, Stephens scored a layup with two seconds on the clock to put home the game winner for the Panthers.
By the Numbers:
- PSU went 17-of-53 (32.1%) from the floor.
- The Raiders brought down 41 rebounds to Plymouth State's 33.
- Both teams scored 14 points off turnovers.
- Plymouth State recorded 12 steals to the Raiders seven.
- Bench points were in the Panthers' favor, 14-11.
- The Panthers have now won six-in-a-row against Rivier.
- PSU is 16-3 in the head-to-head matchup over the Raiders dating back to 1988.
- The 49-48 scoreline was the smallest margin of victory in the Panthers 16 wins over the Raiders.
Up Next:
- The Panthers will face the Colby-Sawyer College Chargers next Tuesday (Nov. 21) at home in a non-conference matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Foley Gymnasium.
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