Wheelock Wins Battle of Wildcats in Final Seconds

HOLYOKE, Mass. - Despite holding the lead at the half, the Wildcats of Bay Path lost in true buzzer beater fashion to their conference opponents the Wildcats of Wheelock College 53-51. Freshman guard Justine Hook (Berwick, Penn.) nailed her career-high 17 points for Bay Path, while sophomore forward Keneisha Milton (Boston, Mass.) led all scorers with 19 points and pulled down the game-high 16 rebounds.

In the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) season opener for Bay Path, the Wildcats shot an amazing 52.6% from the field in the first half to Wheelock's 23.3% heading into the locker room with a three point lead at 29-26. Freshman key reservist Mercedes Griffith (Malden, Mass.) nailing two from downtown taking back the lead. Senior guard Katie Begin (Weare, N.H.) also drew a foul and sank both free-throws in the final minute of the half. Before the horn Wheelock's Milton hit a last ditch NBA three-pointer to shorten the gap.

Wheelock out hustled Bay Path under the basket pulling down 49 rebounds to the Maroon Wildcats 34 rebounds. The Blue and Gold Wildcats took advantage of their second chance shots scoring 24 points off of offensive boards. The score flip flopped six times while both Wildcats managed to knot the game six times as well.

In the second half, Wheelock managed come out strong and spark their offense with a seven point lead in the first eight minutes of play. Bay Path chipped away at the lead off of a pair of treys by sophomore guard Brittney Alexander (Enfield, Conn.) and Hook. Alexander was hot around the arc finishing 4-for-9 adding 14 points and eight rebounds.

In just under a minute freshman forward Analiz Garcia (Holyoke, Mass.) hit both of her charity shots to tie the score for the final time at 51-51. Wheelock burned the clock down to 25 seconds and missed a three pointer, unfortunately Alexander would over throw a pass a create a turnover at 16 seconds.

Senior guard Joy Holliday (Milford, Mass.) would come up big for her Wildcats sinking a duce after a much needed offensive board by junior forward Kayla Drescher (Wallingford, Conn.) with just under two seconds left on the clock. Drescher would finish with ten rebounds and six points. Junior teammate Maya Spratling (Dorchester, Mass.) would also grab a double double with ten rebounds and 13 points.

Wheelock is now 2-4 overall and 2-0 in the NECC, while Bay Path falls to 0-9 and 0-1 in conference play. Wheelock will travel to MCLA on December 14^th for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off, while Bay Path resumes play after the New Year with Elms on January 8^th.