First the Canisius College women's basketball team couldn't hold on to its lead at the end of regulation. Then, the Golden Griffins rallied from a seven-point deficit with less than 40 seconds left to force a second overtime. Finally, the Griffs scored the first five points of the second overtime and never trailed to snap its seven-game losing streak and earn its first MAAC win of the season.
Getting a career-high 22 points from junior Micayla Drysdale and 15 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists from senior Brittané Russell, Canisius ends its seven-game losing streak with a 69-65 double overtime win over Manhattan on Monday, before a capacity crowd of 2,196 on Kid's Day in the Koessler Athletic Center. Canisius is now 6-9 and 1-3 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
“When you're on a losing streak, it never seems like you get a nice, comfortable victory to get back into the win column,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “Our team never gave up today, picking each other up to get this win in front of an awesome crowd on Kid's Day.”
Down two at the half, Canisius opened the second half on a 16-2 run, building a 37-25 lead on a layup from Russell with 13:46 left. The Lady Jaspers chipped away at the Canisius lead and eventually took the lead on a 13-2 run that was capped by a layup from Abby Wentworth with 1:23 left. The Griffs responded with a baseline jumper from Brianna Lucas to tie the game at 47-47 with just over a minute remaining.
Michelle Pacheco missed a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left, but Manhattan was able to track down the rebound and could have held for the final shot. However, Pacheco's runner with 10 seconds left missed giving Canisius a chance to win. Russell pushed the ball up court, getting the ball to Drysdale who sent a bounce pass to Radke, who was running down the lane for a game-winning layup. Radke was fouled with 1.4 seconds left, but was unable to make either free throw, and the teams went to overtime.
Manhattan (7-8, 2-2 MAAC) scored the first five points in overtime before a 3-pointer from Drysdale – one of six on the day for the junior – cut the Manhattan lead to 52-50. The Lady Japsers then scored five straight points to go up 57-50 on two free throws from Wentworth. Russell made a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound to make the score 57-53 with 36 seconds remaining. Setting up a press out of its final timeout, Canisius was able to force a turnover and Lucas nailed a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game. Pacheco pushed the Manhattan lead to 59-56 with 26 seconds left.
Canisius inbounded the ball to Drysdale, who got a screen from Radke in the backcourt, freeing Drysdale from her defender. Drysdale dribbled up to the top of the key and drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 59-59 with 19 seconds left. Manhattan had a chance to win at the end of overtime, but Pacheco's layup missed to send the teams to a second overtime.
Radke scored the first four points in the second overtime – making a baseline jumper and one-handed shot in the paint – and a free throw from freshman Allison Braun put Canisius up 64-59. The teams traded free throws for awhile with two from Pacheco making it 67-65 with 44 seconds remaining.
After Braun missed a jumper, Radke tracked down the offensive rebound. The senior couldn't convert on either free throw and the ball went out of bounds to Manhattan. After the inbounds pass, Braun tipped the ball into the corner, getting the steal and finding Radke in the backcourt. Radke made both of those free throws to push the lead to four points and put the game away.
Wentworth led the Lady Jaspers with 21 points, playing all 50 minutes. Lindsey Loutsenhizer had 19 points and nine rebounds in 47 minutes. Manhattan was 26-for-35 from the free-throw line on the day.
Canisius returns to the road on Saturday, playing at Rider. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 469 games on a 3-pointer by Drysdale in the first half… Canisius defeats Manhattan for the 10th consecutive meeting in the Koessler Athletic Center… Ten of the last 14 meetings between the teams have now been decided by single digits… Canisius improved to 7-1 in its last eight Kid's Day games in the KAC... The Griffs played in front of a capacity crowd (non-doubleheader) in the KAC for the first time in program history... Canisius played its second double overtime game of the season. Prior to this season, Canisius had played three double overtime games in the previous 34 years combined… Canisius had 20 assists on 26 made baskets… The Griffs shot 17-for-33 (51.5 percent) on two-point shots… Russell set a career-high with the 10 assists… Russell was the first Griff with 10 assists since Becky Zak had 10 against Siena on Jan. 5, 2006, which was also the last time Canisius had a player record a double-double with points and assists… Drysdale scored 20-plus points for the first time in her career… Drysdale made six 3-pointers in a game for the second time in her career (Dec. 28, 2008 against Detroit)… Canisius rallied from a deficit of five points or more with 90 seconds or less remaining for the fourth time under Zeh, with this being the first of those wins coming in overtime.
