Women?s Basketball Grinds Out Win Over Binghamton

Women's Basketball 2/22/2009 5:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Women's Basketball Earns Overtime Win Over Iona

Rallying from a five-point deficit with less than two minutes remaining, the Canisius College women's basketball team forced overtime and then hung on in the extra session for a 70-67 victory over the Iona Gaels in the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Golden Griffins improve to 21-7 overall, tying the program's Division I record for wins in a season. Canisius takes a half-game lead in the conference standings with the 13-4 record in the MAAC, with Fairfield playing Manhattan on Monday night.

Five Golden Griffins reached double figures in the game, led by senior Marie Warner with 15 points and nine rebounds. Junior Brittan? Russell had 14 points, four rebounds and five steals while Amanda Cavo had 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Sophomore Micayla Drysdale had 11 points and five rebounds while junior Ellie Radke had 10 points, going 4-for-4 from the field.

“That was a really good college basketball game today, as we've been saying for the past couple weeks how good of a team Iona is,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “Our hustle plays made up for our shooting struggles, and those are the types of things you need to do to win close basketball games.”

Down 53-48 after a jumper by Iona's Anda Ivkovic with 1:57 remaining, Cavo was fouled with 1:38 left. After making the first free throw, Cavo missed the second but Drysdale grabbed the offensive rebound. Cavo then hit Drysdale on the right wing, and the sophomore swished a 3-pointer to make it 53-52.

On the ensuing trip down the court by Iona, Russell stripped Suzi Fregosi of the ball just over midcourt and scored a breakaway layup to put Canisius up 54-53.

Thazina Cook split two free throws to tie the game at 54-54, and then Russell drove to the hoop for a layup with 24.1 seconds left to give Canisius a two-point lead. Iona responded out of a timeout with a basket from Milica Paligoric to tie the game with 8.3 seconds left. Russell's desperation attempt at the end of regulation went off the backboard.

Off the opening tip of overtime, Russell found a wide-open Cavo on the left wing and the senior nailed a 3-pointer to give Canisius the quick 59-56 lead. The Griffs pushed the lead to as many as seven, getting a 3-pointer from Cavo off an offensive rebound from Drysdale and a layup from Russell that made the score 66-59 with 1:03 left.

A layup from Ivkovic cut the lead to five and Drysdale split two free throws to make it 67-61. Cook nailed a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 67-64. Russell split two free throws to push the lead to four, and Cook made another 3-pointer to make the score 68-67. Drysdale made two free throws to make the score 70-67, and Paligoric missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

Paligoric led Iona (16-12, 9-8 MAAC) with 18 points while Cook had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Ivkovic added 14 points for the Gaels.

Canisius closes out the regular season on Saturday, when the Golden Griffins host Niagara on Senior Day in the Koessler Athletic Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. The game will also be a stop on the MAAC's Radio Disney Tour, with a halftime appearance and post-game meet-n-greet with Moises Arias, who plays Rico on Hannah Montana.

Game Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 449 games on a 3-pointer by Drysdale in the first half... Canisius matches the 2004-05 and 1989-90 teams for most wins at Canisius since 1986-87... Canisius swept a home, conference weekend for the first time this season... Canisius tied the program's Division I record for home wins with the 10th victory in the KAC this season as the team went 10-2 at home in 1988-89... Canisius improved to 3-0 in overtime games this season... Canisius held its opponent to 60 points or fewer at the end of regulation for the 14th consecutive game... Five Canisius players reached double figures for the first time since Jan. 4, at Niagara... Russell had five or more steals in a game for the 11th time in her career and moved into fifth place on the Canisius all-time steals list with 228... Russell is now 21 points of 1,000 for her career... Cavo has 255 made 3-pointers in her career, moving to within five of matching the program record of 260... Canisius swept the season series from Iona for the first time since 2004-05... Canisius started the game 1-for-16 from behind the arc but went 7-for-13 in the final 17 minutes of the contest.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Amanda Cavo: G; 5' 9"; Senior

#35 Ellie Radke: F; 6' 0"; Junior

#1 Brittan? Russell: G; 5' 5"; Junior

#24 Marie Warner: F; 5' 11"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#12 Amanda Cavo
: 5' 9"; Senior
: G

#35 Ellie Radke
: 6' 0"; Junior
: F

#1 Brittan? Russell
: 5' 5"; Junior
: G

#24 Marie Warner
: 5' 11"; Senior
: F