DETROIT - Senior Brittané Russell wrote her own storybook ending in her hometown on Tuesday night.
Russell scored the final eight points, including the game-winning shot with 4.3 seconds remaining, to give the Canisius College women's basketball team a 54-52 come-from-behind win at Detroit in Calihan Hall on Tuesday night.
Senior Ellie Radke led Canisius with a career-high 21 points in the game. Russell had 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Senior Tasia Lee added nine points, seven rebounds and three steals in a career-high 23 minutes.
"We ran into a little bit of adversity in the first half with fouls and missed shots. At halftime, we regrouped and focused for the second half," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "Our team made its big run and then grinded it out down the stretch to get a road win.
With the score tied at 52-52, Canisius (2-2) came out of the timeout and Radke would dribble to the left wing. Russell got the ball on the wing, drove to the basket down the baseline and hit a floater with 4.3 seconds remaining to put Canisius ahead 54-52.
Out of a timeout, Detroit (1-3) went the length of the court and was able to get Brigid Mulroy open for a final look on the left wing. Lee and Radke converged on Mulroy, with Lee getting the block as the horn sounded.
Mulroy led Detroit with 20 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Yar Shayok had 11 points and four rebounds.
Detroit scored the first 10 points of the game and never let Canisius get closer than five points during the rest of the first half. The Griffs cut the deficit to 27-22 on a 3-pointer by Radke in the final seconds of the first half.
Detroit pushed its lead to as many as 13 points in the second half, going up 39-26 with 15:32 remaining. Canisius then made a 23-5 run during the next six minutes. Canisius made five 3-poitners during the run, getting Radke had two and Durham, Lee and Russell each made one.
The teams then locked down for the rest of the contest, with Canisius not scoring until a 3-pointer from Russell with 1:25 remaining gave the Griffs a 52-51 lead with 1:25 left. Mulroy split two free throws to tie the game and set the scene for the final seconds.
Canisius returns home on Saturday, when the Golden Griffins host Binghamton at 1 p.m.
Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 458 games on a 3-pointer by Russell midway through the first half... Canisius and Detroit met for the fourth time and for the first time in Detroit since Jan. 7, 1993... Radke scored 20-plus points in a game for the first time in her career... Canisius overcame a six-point halftime deficit to get the win. That's the eighth time under Zeh that Canisius has overcome a halftime deficit of six points or more to win... Canisius improved to 84-4 under Zeh when leading with five minutes remaining... Since the 1986-87 season, Canisius won a game with a basket in the final five seconds for the 12th time... The win was the 94th in the career for Zeh at Canisius, the most by a Golden Griffin coach since the program went to the Division I level.
