The Canisius College women's basketball team came back from a 12-point deficit with just over seven minutes remaining to defeat Iona College 85-74 in overtime on Kid's Day in the Koessler Athletic Center on Monday. The Golden Griffins improve to 8-7 overall and even their record at 2-2 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Junior Ashley Durham set career highs with 29 points, nine assists and 43 minutes played, including 6-for-8 shooting on 3-pointers. Sophomore Jamie Ruttle had 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Freshman Kayla Hoohuli had nine points and 10 rebounds while junior Allison Braun had nine points and six boards.

"We get on our heels defensively, just watching the other team and not wanting to make plays," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "The start of the second half was the same thing, but Ashley did a really good job with her decision making to choose between making passes and shooting open jumpers.

"Today was a great atmosphere with a packed gym of elementary school students. Our team feeds off that energy and I think it helped us down the stretch and in overtime."

Canisius trailed 57-45 after a jumper from Suzi Fregosi with 7:13 remaining. The Griffs went on a 14-2 run during the next four minutes to tie the game at 61-61. Durham scored five points, including a jumper from the elbow that tied the game, and assisted on three other baskets during that stretch. After Diana Hubbard made two free throws, Ruttle evened the score with a layup. Hubbard again made two free throws and Durham made both ends of the one-and-one to even the score at 65-65. The Gaels took a 67-65 lead on a lob play for Danika Martinez with 11 seconds remaining. No team had a timeout, so Durham came down the court and found Braun on the left baseline. The junior drained the open jumper to even the score with 5.0 seconds left. Aleesha Powell went streaking down the court and junior Melissa Gardner blocked her shot attempt out of bounds to force overtime.

Canisius carried that momentum into overtime and scored the first nine points of the extra sessions, holding Iona scoreless for more than three and a half minutes. Ruttle made two free throws to give Canisius its first lead of the game at 69-67. Durham made her sixth 3-pointer of the day, Ruttle made a jumper and sophomore Jen Morbaito banked in a runner to give Canisius a 76-67 lead with 1:39 left. Canisius made nine of its 10 free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

Martinez led Iona with 28 points and made her first five shots in the game, scoring 14 of Iona's opening 20 points. Powell had 11 points and five steals while Suzi Fregosi had 10 points and five rebounds. Iona shot 42.2 percent in the game, including 51.9 percent in the first half.

Canisius returns to the road for two games next weekend, starting at Manhattan on Friday. Game time on Kid's Day in the Draddy Gymnasium is set for 11 a.m.

Notes: Canisius takes a 24-23 lead in the all-time series, ending a four-game Iona winning streak in the series... Canisius matched the Division I program record for biggest second-half comeback, rallying from a 14-point deficit (55-41 with 12:23 remaining). Canisius also rallied from a 14-point deficit at UMES in 2007-08... Canisius wins its fourth straight MAAC home game - its longest streak of consecutive conference home wins since five straight from Jan. 30, 2005 to Jan. 5, 2006... Canisius won its fifth straight home game, its longest stretch since eight straight from Feb. 5, 2006 to Dec. 5, 2006... Canisius won an overtime game for the first time since Jan. 10, 2010, against Manhattan in double overtime... Canisius scored 80 points for the second time this season and first time at home since Dec. 28, 2008, an 80-59 win over Detroit

Canisius improves to 8-2 in its last 10 Kid's Day games in the KAC. Two of those wins were also of the comeback variety (Down 57-50 with 1:15 left against Fairfield before rallying to win 58-57 in 2008. Winning in double overtime, after trailing by seven with 40 seconds left in the first overtime, against Manhattan in 2010)... Canisius shot 46.6 percent on the day, its seventh straight game over 40 percent from the field... Canisius shot 15-for-16 from the free-throw line in the second half and overtime and is now shooting 80.3 percent from the line in the second half this season... Hoohuli is the first Golden Griffin to have 10 rebounds in a game this season... Durham is the first Golden Griffin to play more than 40 minutes since Brittané Russell played 42 against Loyola on Feb. 6, 2010... In the last seven games, Durham has 39 assists... Durham's six 3-pointers are the most by a Golden Griffin since Micayla Drysdale had six on Jan. 11, 2010, also on Kid's Day... The nine assists are the most since Russell had 10 on Kid's Day against Manhattan and the 29 points are the most since Megan Lyte had 29 against Fairfield on Jan. 20, 2006... Ruttle has six blocks in the last four games and nine assists in the last two games.