WBB's Comeback vs. NEC Falls Just Short

NEW LONDON, Conn. – New England College nearly squandered a 20-point fourth-quarter lead but held on to edge Mitchell College, 63-62, in a New England Collegiate Conference tilt on Friday afternoon at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Mariah Thomas supplied the game-winning basket with 1.2 seconds remaining, scoring on a put-back after pulling down an offensive rebound. Mitchell then advanced the ball to half-court with a timeout but came up short on its final shot attempt.

Kayla Goldring paced the Pilgrims (12-5 overall, 2-0 NECC) with 18 points while Thomas added 10 points and eight rebounds. Brianna Pierreval and Asia Jones each finished with nine points apiece.

Le'Sandra Turner led four Mariners in double digits with 15 points and added six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sam McKenna chipped in 14 points off the bench while Dede Stevenson and Amina Wiley finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

NEC opened the game with 16 straight points to seize control early. The Mariners couldn't get anything going during the stretch, missing on their first nine field goal attempts before finally getting on the scoreboard with 2:55 remaining in the quarter. To make matters worse, Wiley picked up two quick fouls and spent the final 7:15 of the period on the bench.

Following Mitchell's nightmare start, the two sides played a virtually even game into the fourth quarter. NEC led 57-37 with 8:12 remaining in the game when Mitchell started its comeback. The Mariners ripped off 19 unanswered points during a 4:47 stretch to pull within a single point. McKenna provided a pair of three-pointers during the spurt, and her free throw with 3:02 left made it a 57-56 game.    

Andrea Smellie snapped the Pilgrims out of their funk with a layup with 1:52 to go, and later a pair of free throws by Jones gave the visitors a 61-58 lead with 1:10 remaining. 

Mitchell fired back with a big three from Stevenson to tie the game with 41 seconds remaining. She grabbed an offensive board following a missed free throw, dribbled to the corner and drilled the tying bucket. Moments later, McKenna made one of two at the line to give the Mariners their first lead of the game at 62-61 with 24 seconds remaining. 

The Pilgrims put the ball into Jones' hands on their final possession, and the senior point guard drove the lane before kicking out to Denesha Dennis for an open baseline jumper. The shot was off the mark, but Thomas fought for the rebound and banked in the go-ahead basket with 1.2 seconds to play.

Mitchell (7-9 overall, 0-1 NECC) will next host Williams College on Monday, January 31 at 5 p.m.