Women's Basketball 2/20/2010 2:50:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Konieczka Nails Gamewinner in Final Seconds to Defeat Women's Basketball

Niagara senior Jaclyn Konieczka's 3-pointer – her third 3-pointer of the season – with 2.8 seconds left proved to be the gamewinner as the Canisius College women's basketball team lost 49-46 to Niagara in the Koessler Athletic Center on Friday night. Canisius falls to 10-16 overall and 5-10 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Senior Brittané Russell led all players with 11 points while freshman Whitney Ellenor matched career highs with 10 points and six rebounds. Senior Ellie Radke had nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.

“We came out with a lot of energy and played aggressively for stretches, but we seem to continue to lose that edge for key stretches,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “Niagara hit the big shots when they needed to at the end of the game. Now we have to regroup quickly to get ready for Manhattan on Sunday.”

The Golden Griffins built a 20-6 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. A 7-0 run capped that stretch with a layup from Ellenor, jumper from Radke and 3-pointer from Russell.

Niagara (12-14, 9-6 MAAC) chipped away at the lead and cut the Canisius advantage to 22-17 on two free throws from Kayla Stroman. Tauralee Tenn, making her first career start, hit two free throws and junior Micayla Drysdale drained a jumper to push the lead to 26-17.

Up by seven at the half, Canisius allowed Niagara to score the first six points of the second half to make it 26-25 on two more free throws from Stroman. The Griffs would go on an 11-2 run, capped by jumpers from Allison Braun and Ellenor to put Canisius up 42-32 with 10:30 remaining.

Canisius would only make two field goals the rest of the game – a layup from Ellenor with exactly nine minutes remaining and a put-back layup by Drysdale with under two minutes left.

After Rachele Folino split two free throws to make it 44-42 with 2:42 remaining, Folino made a baseline jumper to tie the game at 44-44 with 1:57 left. Drysdale's layup allowed Canisius to regain the lead, but Folino made another baseline jumper to tie the game again.

The Griffs had two shots to regain the lead but couldn't convert. After of a timeout with 13.7 seconds remaining, Konieczka eventually got the ball at the top of the key and drained the game-winning shot with 2.8 seconds remaining, giving Niagara its only lead of the game.

Russell's half-court attempt at the buzzer hit the left side of the rim.

No Niagara player reached double figures with Stroman and Konieczka leading the Purple Eagles with nine points apiece.

Canisius plays its final road game of the regular season on Sunday, when the Golden Griffins travel to Manhattan. Game time in the Draddy Gymnasium is set for 2 p.m.

Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 480 games on a 3-pointer by Russell early in the first half… Russell extended her personal streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 23 games, five off the program record… Canisius loses the season series to Niagara for the first time since 2006-07… Niagara defeats Canisius in the Koessler Athletic Center for the first time since Feb. 25, 2007… Tenn is the seventh Golden Griffin this season to make her first career start. The junior played a career-high 27 minutes, matched a career-high with five rebounds and matched a career-high with four assists.

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Players Mentioned

#15 Allison Braun: G; 5' 10"; Freshman

#23 Micayla Drysdale: G; 5' 9"; Junior

#12 Whitney Ellenor: F; 6' 2"; Freshman

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

#11 Tauralee Tenn: G; 5' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#15 Allison Braun
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: G

#23 Micayla Drysdale
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

#12 Whitney Ellenor
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: F

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

#11 Tauralee Tenn
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G