Women's Basketball 12/17/2009 1:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Women's Basketball Drops Double OT Heartbreaker at Duquesne

PITTSBURGH – Two free throws from Keri Pryor with 24 seconds remaining proved to be the difference as the Canisius College women's basketball team lost 72-70 in double overtime at Duquesne on Wednesday. The loss ends the Golden Griffins' five-game winning streak and drops the Canisius record to 5-3 on the season.

Senior Brittané Russell went the distance, playing all 50 minutes. Russell had 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and six steals. Senior Brianna Lucas had a season-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Freshman Ashley Durham had nine points while freshman Allison Braun and junior Micayla Drysdale each had eight points.

“It's always tough when you lose these types of games, because there are a lot of little things that could have went either way,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said “Those are things we talk about with our team each day and even if we had pulled this game out, that's what we need to learn from to become a good basketball team.”

The teams played a sloppy first-half that featured Canisius taking a 25-22 halftime lead while forcing 15 Duquesne first-half turnovers. The Dukes quickened the pace to start the second half, scoring eight points in 45 seconds to take a 43-33 lead with 13:26 left in the half.

Canisius then slowed the game down, slowly chipping away at the Duquesne lead. The Griffs scored 16 unanswered points during a seven-minute span to take a 53-47 lead on two free throws from Russell.

Duquesne (8-3) forced the first overtime when Samantha Pollino scored off an offensive rebound on a jumper in the paint as time expired.

The Dukes held a three-point lead after a layup from Keri Pryor with 37 seconds remaining in the first overtime to go up 65-62. Out of a timeout, Drysdale swished a 3-pointer from a number of feet behind the three-point line to tie the game with 13 seconds remaining. Duquesne missed two shots in the final seconds to send the game into a second overtime.

Canisius never held the lead in the second overtime, as Duquesne built a five-point lead on a layup from Pollino with two minutes remaining. The Griffs responded with two free throws from Durham and a 3-pointer from Russell to tie the game at 70-70.

Pryor made two free throws with 24 seconds left to give Duquesne a 72-70 lead. The Griffs came up empty on two shots in the final seconds.

Kelly Britcher had a team-high 18 points for Duquesne while Pollino had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Canisius returns home on Saturday, when the Golden Griffins host Bowling Green. Game time in the Koessler Athletic Center is set for 2 p.m.

Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 462 games on a 3-pointer by Russell in the first half... Canisius played the fifth double overtime game in program history, with the last game coming Jan. 9, 2004, against Fairfield… Russell is the first player since the program went to the Division I level to play all 50 minutes in a double overtime game. Heather Fiore and Mimi LaMagna each played 49 minutes against Fairfield on Feb. 17, 1997… Canisius and Duquesne played for the fifth time and for the first time since Dec. 21, 1992… Senior Ellie Radke fouled out for the first time since Nov. 25, 2008, a stretch of 33 games… Canisius held its opponent to under 60 points at the end of regulation for the 24th time in the last 27 games, losing for just the fifth time in those 24 games.

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