McDaniels Advances to Women's Basketball Title Game
WESTMINSTER, Md. -- McDaniel College (21-7) built a big lead, then held off a furious second-half rally by Rutgers-Camden for a 57-56 win. With the win, the Green Terror advanced to the East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) Women's Basketball Final on Sunday. Meanwhile, the heartbreaking loss ended Rutgers-Camden's season at 14-14.
Lauren Cavoli led McDaniel with 17 points. Elaina Beckett added 15 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, while Teay McConnaha tallied 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Hope Goodwine paced Rutgers-Camden with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Courtney Edmundo dropped in 14 points and eight rebounds, and Tamyia Collier chipped in 12 points.
Overall, long-distance shooting propelled McDaniel to a big lead. The Green Terror held an early advantage, leading 14-11 after the first quarter, but stretched the lead to double-digits when Beckett buried a pull-up jumper to make the score 24-13 with 5:13 left in the second quarter.
The Green Terror led by as much as 16 points in the second quarter. Cavoli's 3-pointer gave McDaniel a 29-13 lead with 3:34 left. The Green Terror cruised into halftime with a 32-19 lead.
McDaniel maintained a 50-34 lead after three quarters, but Rutgers-Camden turned up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter, converting turnovers into points and cutting into the deficit.
Trailing 52-34, the Scarlet Raptors went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 11. A layup off a steal by Goodwine made the score 52-41 with 8:28 left in the game.
Two minutes later, the Scarlet Raptors got within single digits as Edmundo scored on a driving layup with 6:08 remaining to make it 54-45.
Over the next six minutes, the Scarlett Raptors made a thrilling comeback. Staring at a 57-47 deficit with 2:49 left, Rutgers-Camden went on an 8-0 run to get within a basket with six seconds left.
After a freethrow by Goodwine made the score 57-55, Collier stole the inbound pass and was fouled driving in for the game-tying score. Collier knocked down the first freethrow but missed the second, and McDaniel grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock.