Box Score
(Collegeville, Pa.) - Sophomore guard Jennifer Smith (Short Hills, N.J./Milburne) ignited a flair for the dramatic as she drove coast to coast, weaved past three Ursinus defenders and knocked down the game winner with ten seconds remaining to lift Dickinson to a 63-62 win over the Bears at Helfferich Hall in Collegeville, Pa.
The clutch shot sparked elation after Ursinus's Elana Roadcloud nailed a jumper from the top of the key to give Ursinus the 62-61 lead with just 22 seconds remaining.
Out of the ensuing Dickinson timeout, head coach Katherine Bixby slated the perfect play to allow Smith to use her quickness off the dribble and capitalize on the biggest play of her career.
Dickinson led almost the entire way in a contest that featured nine tie situations and 15 lead changes.
The Red Devils started out hot thanks to ten first half points from ever-improving first-year forward Kassidy Lesher (Shoemakersville, Pa./Hamburg). Senior forward Liz Schultz (Dunmore, Pa./Scranton Prep) also contributed to early momentum with two three pointers in the first half. Baskets by first-year forward Mairead Donahue (Trumball, Conn./St. Joseph) and sophomore point guard Ellen Bair (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) helped put together a 7-2 run to close out the half and give Dickinson a 25-23 advantage at the break.
Sophomore forward Mary Martin (Honesdale, Pa./Honesdale) caught fire in the second half, putting in 11 of her team-high 13 points.
Ursinus took a four point lead with less than five minutes remaining. Dickinson found the answer when Martin made good on an and-one situation with 2:35 left to go. The old-fashioned three-point play put Dickinson up 57-56.
Ursinus went to the line after a Lesher foul with 1:20 left and Alyssa Polimeni knocked down both to give the Bears the advantage.
After another Martin jump shot, the Bears' Jessica Porada made a nice play in the paint to bring Ursinus within one.
Roadcloud would hit the go ahead shot on the next possession to give Ursinus the lead, paving the way for Smith's dramatic game winner.
Martin led the way with 13 points in 28 minutes on the floor. Lesher kept pace with 12 points and six rebounds on the afternoon.
The Red Devils shot a team 53.3% on the day, and an impressive 55.6% from beyond the arc.
Even though Ursinus topped Dickinson handily in almost every statistical category – rebounds 42-26, and second chance points 21-5 - the Red Devils focused on team basketball, assisting 14 scores.
Smith's game-winner is Dickinson's second this season with less than 20 seconds left. First-year guard Myonie Williamson started the trend with a thrilling game-winner of her own with less than one second left to complete a season series sweep of Swarthmore in Dickinson's last victory on Jan. 24 at the Kline Center.
With their second road win of the season, the Red Devils improve to 5-16, 3-13 CC and return to action on Wednesday at McDaniel for a 6pm tip in Westminster, Md.