Women’s Basketball Captures Thriller vs. JWU, 61-60

BOSTON – With 2.8 seconds on the clock in the fourth frame and trailing by one, Alexandra Clarke put in the pass from Alexandra Nagri to lift the Suffolk women's basketball team to a thrilling 61-60 triumph over GNAC rival Johnson & Wales Wednesday night inside Regan Gymnasium.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 61, Johnson & Wales 60
RECORDS: Suffolk (4-4, 1-1 GNAC) | Johnson & Wales (4-4, 0-1 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Out of a Johnson & Wales timeout with 22 seconds to go Clarke tied the game at 59-all. The Wildcats gained a one-point advantage as Ashley Thompson put away a free throw. The center missed her second and Clarke collected the pieces and the Rams were off to the races. 

On the inbounds play Clarke grabbed Nagri's pass and made the go-ahead hoop to give Suffolk a 61-60 cushion. With two seconds on the clock JWU took a timeout to advance the ball and Kristen Habbel's hail mary three did not connect as Suffolk went on to take the 61-60 victory.   

The teams started out on an evening playing, each scoring 10 in the first quarter. The Wildcats took a 14-10 lead to open the second, but it was shortlived as a triple from Georgia Bourikas sparked a 7-0 run that turned the tides in favor of the Rams, 17-14. The Wildcats made comebacks down the stretch, but Suffolk used triples from Nagri and Alexis Hackett to close the quarter and take a 31-25 advantage into the locker room. 

JWU played catchup for the majority of the third as the Rams kept them at a distance for nearly seven minutes. Things got interest with under three to play as Thompson made it a two-point game and Sarah Duryea locked the score at 41-41 with 2:08 on the clock. Hackett boasted her engines out of a Suffolk break with the freshman knocking down a three and a layup to keep the Rams in front, 46-45, at the end of three quarters. 

The Wildcats took their first lead since the first frame at the 8:43 mark in the fourth and it turned into a back-and-forth game. Suffolk found itself in a five-point hole at the midway point of the fourth frame and used key freebies down the stretch to set up Clarke's heroics. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Clarke finished the night with eight points, including the crucial four which tied the game and gave the Rams the win. The senior forward shot 4-for-6 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds in a 21-minute effort.
• Bourikas led the Rams in scoring off the bench, scoring 13, shooting 4-for-6 from the floor, 2-for-2 from behind the arc and 3-for-4 at the charity stripe.
• Caitlyn Caramello registered 12 points on a 4-for-5 day from the field and 4-for-4 effort at the line. The junior added four caroms, one assist and one steal to her stat line.
• Hackett rounded out the Rams' double figure scorers with 11. The freshman also played a key role in a variety of Suffolk hoops, dishing out five hoops to go along with two steals and eight boards.
• Katelyn Rourke paced Suffolk on the glass with nine rebounds. The freshman tallied seven points, one block and one assist.
• The Rams held a slim upperhand on the glass, 39-36.
• Suffolk and JWU shot similar from all areas of the floor with the Rams going 37.9 from the floor (22-58), 29.4 from the 3-point line and 63.2 percent from the free throw line (12-19) compared to the Wildcats 37.0 field goal (20-54), 26.7 three-pointer (4-15) and 76.2 free throw (16-21) effort. 

NOTABLES

• Suffolk snapped JWU's three-game win streak against the Rams and improved to 16-7 since 1996 against the Wildcats.
• Hackett matched a personal-best in points (11) and assists (5) and set a new career-high in takeaways (2). 

POST-GAME PIC

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk is back in action inside Regan Gymnasium Saturday, Dec. 10 when Curry stops by for a 1 p.m. showdown.