NCAA Division II Women's Basketball
Result 
Friday, November 17, 2006
Mercy Women's Basketball Edged in Overtime by UMass Lowell, 72-68
LOWELL, MA- The Mercy College women's basketball team rallied from a nine-point second half-deficit, but fell short in overtime, 72-68, at the hands of host UMass Lowell on Friday, November 17. The Flyers are now 0-2 on the year, while the River Hawks are 1-0. Mercy sophomore guard Christina Baxter (Greenwood Lake, NY) led all scorers with 17 points.
UMass Lowell started off the contest by scoring the first six points. At the 12:56 mark Mercy was able to even the game at 14-14 on an Elissa Krossber (Canandaigua, NY) three-pointer. The Flyers took the lead when Precious Tyler (Brooklyn, NY) converted a layup, but the River Hawks were able to regain the advantage just before the half and took a 32-29 margin into the break.
Sophomore Jazmin Steele (Stoughton, MA) opened the second stanza with a three-pointer for the Flyers, tying the game at 32-32. Mercy pulled ahead 38-36, on another Krossber three-pointer, but UMass Lowell scored the next six points to build a 44-36 lead.
The Flyers cut the deficit to two on a pair of Baxter free throws before UMass Lowell went on a 14-7 run to build its largest lead of the game at 58-49 with 7:10 remaining in regulation.
Mercy still trailed by eight with 4:37 to go, but the Flyers mounted a come back by going on their own 11-5 spurt to close out the game, capped by a Baxter fade away jumper with one second left that sent the contest into overtime.
The River Hawks struck first in the extra period, getting a jumper from Bridgette Hooker before Mercy tied the contest on a layup from Jasmine Sistrunk (Brooklyn, NY) and went ahead 68-67, as Steele hit one-of-two at the charity stripe with 2:49 left. UMass Lowell then scored the final five points of the contest to seal the decision.
"I'm so proud of our team's effort tonight and couldn't ask for more," said head coach Ashlee Kelly. "They worked hard from the opening tip to the final buzzer. This performance is a big step in the right direction for Mercy women's basketball."
Baxter was 7-for-9 from the field and recorded six steals and one assist. Krossber and Steele added 16 and 14 points, respectively. Sistrunk pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for Mercy.
The Flyers will travel to Medgar Evers on Monday, November 20. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
