Women’s Notebook – Overtime travails and bad news for the region
By Stephen Zerdelian
Working Overtime…
Molloy head coach Joe Pellicane has had to coach extra minutes this season, as his Lions have already played three overtime games. Now, it’s not unprecedented for a regional team to endure three extra-session games in season (there has been at least one team to do it almost every season in recent memory) but the twist here is that Molloy has played three OT games so quickly – in the span of five days! Initial research into overtime in the region over the last two decades indicates this is the shortest span any team has played three overtime games, not to mention the fact that they came in succession.
The first two games took place at the Felician Holiday Classic, with the Lions losing on the first day to Dominican, 70-67. Double-double machine Trinity Hudson (19 points, 17 caroms), Samantha Muller (17 points, 8 boards) and Janel Moore (10 points, 7 assists) led the Lions effort but a career-high 27 points (and 14 boards) from Charger post Chidinma Ndukauba and a double-double from Cayla Howard (14 points, 14 rebounds) proved too much to handle. Alexis Suarez (14 points) tied the game for DU with :57 left in regulation and a 9-2 blitz to start the OT put the Chargers ahead (65-58) to stay. Somehow, Dominican won the game despite going 1-16 from three-point land, although Molloy wasn’t a whole lot better (4-16 3FG).
A day later the Lions emerged with a 74-72 victory over the hosts with Hudson (18 points and 11 boards), Muller (16 points) and Isabel Sanchez (13 points) leading the way. Aisha Traore (15 points, 20 rebounds), Ane Valle (15 points) and Katherine Ritchie (12 points and 10 boards) did the work for the Golden Falcons. Felician owned the glass (67-48!) yet came out on the downside in a game with 22 ties and 28 lead swaps. Ritchie’s basket late in regulation forced OT (61 each) but a pair of Muller foul shots and a trey from Sanchez put the Lions ahead for good (71-67, 1:42 of OT).
Three days later (November 29), the Lions were back at it on their home floor, losing an ECC game to the College of Staten Island in extra time, 73-71. Kyra Rose’s (15 points) transition bucket for the Dolphins with 11 ticks left knotted the game at 67, and CSI never trailed in the overtime period, surviving a Sanchez missed three-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it for Molloy. Hudson (14 points, 14 boards – told ya!) and Muller (15 points) again showed out for the Lions but the trio of Ashley Lambert (18 points), Rose and Jenalyse Alaron (11 points, 10 caroms) for CSI edged them in the end.
Molloy finally played a regulation game again on Saturday, falling to UDC, 81-63. Aside from the result, Joe Pellicane must have been relieved that the game was decided in 40 minutes!
BTW, can you guess the last regional outfit to play more than three overtime games in the same season? Answer at the end of the column.
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Sad News…
Unfortunately, there are a couple of distressing pieces of news to share. The first is the passing of an Adelphi great, Kendra Koneski-Cochrane. The 1996 AU graduate passed away at the too-early age of 48 in late November, triggering memories of a superb player that deserves to be recognized. Koneski is the only player in Panthers history to surpass both the 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound mark (1,519 points, 4th on the all-time AU list; and 1,027 rebounds, tops on that list) and was inducted into the Adelphi Hall of Fame in 2002. The Hartford, Connecticut native is among the career leaders in other AU categories, including free throws made (#2 with 345) and total minutes played (#8). Deepest condolences to family, friends, and the wider Adelphi community on Koneski-Cochrane’s untimely passing.
Further north in the Empire State, it was announced on November 30 that the College of Saint Rose will close their doors for good at the end of the 2023-’24 academic year. A member of the Northeast-10 Conference since the 2000-’01 academic year, Saint Rose, located in Albany, has battled financial issues for several years but the official news of the closure hits hard.
Both men’s and women’s basketball programs have deep and storied histories, and their departure (which will drop the NE10 to eleven members on the hardwood) will be felt. The Golden Knights women’s program won a regional title in 2000 and had a string of high-level teams from the mid-1990’s until the mid-2000’s. Recent seasons have not been so kind but this term’s team, helmed by Will Brown, is off to a 4-1 start and it is anyone’s guess how the news will ultimately impact their performance on the floor.
Marcia White, the President of the College, released a statement last week, noting, “The closure of Saint Rose is truly heartbreaking for all of us who care deeply about the history and legacy of this institution.”
The region has taken a huge hit in the last few years with programs such as Stonehill, Le Moyne, the University of the Sciences and Alliance all off the D2 board for various reasons (all of which have been detailed on this site in other forms). Losing the College of Saint Rose will only add to the concerningly-growing list of departures.
Saint Rose has been an institution of higher learning for more than a century and its closure will affect the nearly 4,000 students, hundreds of faculty members, institution-related workers, and the greater Albany area substantially. This space tends to focus on basketball, but the greater loss of the institution is far more meaningful.
Keep an eye open for my colleague Chris Granozio’s men’s column later in the week (Around the Rim), which will delve a little deeper into the developing situation at Saint Rose.
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Quiz answer…
It was Daemen. The Wildcats racked up four overtime games during the 2015-’16 season, splitting the quartet. Daemen began with two losses, 87-84 to Edinboro (December 12) and Bridgeport, 70-68 (December 20), but recovered to nab two wins in February, defeating Dowling (71-67, February 5) and St. Thomas Aquinas (79-73, February 11).
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That’s it for now - until next time, enjoy the games!