Siena College Advances to MAAC Women's Basketball Championship Quarterfinals After Overtime Thriller
MAAC Sports
ALBANY, NY – The second game of the 2016 MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship saw the Siena College Saints defeat the Rider University Broncs, 79-76 in the first overtime contest of the weekend.
Rider’s Robin Perkins tied the game for the Broncs with one second left on the clock to even the score at 59 and was fouled on the play. Perkins missed the potential game-winning free-throw. Siena would grab the rebound and call timeout with .6 seconds on the clock. The Saints’ Jackie Benitez had a look at the game-winner but missed and the game headed to overtime.
In overtime, the Saints scored five seconds in the extra set when Kollyns Scarbrough hit a layup. Rider came all the way back in regulation to play for five more minutes here at the Times Union Center. In regulation, Rider University was down 17 points late in the second quarter and came on strong in the second half, but eventually fell in overtime. Rider pulled with one late in overtime when Lexi Stover hit a three to bring the score to 77-76.
Karolina Severova stepped up off the bench in overtime due to the Saints being in foul trouble, hit all four of her free-throws to secure the win for Siena. For the final 18 seconds of overtime, the Saints played with four players as five players fouled out.
The Saints were led by All-Rookie Team selection Jackie Benitez. The freshman scored 23 points. Rider was led by Kamila Hoskova who had a game-high 26 points. She added seven rebounds as well. All-MAAC Second Team selection Robin Perkins finished with 19 points and six rebounds for the Broncs.
Siena College now faces #2 seed Iona College on Friday, March 4 at 2:30 p.m. in the MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship Quarterfinals.
The 2016 MAAC Women’s Championship title game will take place on Monday, March 7 at 2:30 p.m. and will air live on ESPNU with the winner earning the leagues automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
For more information on MAAC women’s basketball, visit maacsports.com and remember to follow the conversation on social media using #MAACHoops and #MAAC35.