PUERTO RICO – The Dickinson women's basketball team showed true grit and determination to overcome a 17-point halftime deficit and a hot-shooting Kean University to pick up their sixth-straight win with a 58-55 win in their first game of their two-game Puerto Rico swing.
The Devils found themselves struggling early as a single free throw by
Mia Chapman was the Devils lone point over the first five minutes as they trailed 10-1, until
Jenna Weinstein converted a runner. A putback by Macy Seaman made it 12-3 and led to a DC timeout. After four straight by the Red and Black closed to 12-7, before Kayla Anderson cleaned up her own miss. That helped the Cougars to close out the first on a 7-0 run to lead 19-7 after ten minutes.
Kean began the second with a pair of triples from Brittany Graff to stretch the margin to 25-7 with 2:42 off the clock leading to another Dickinson timeout. Then, out of the break the Cougars added another trey out of the hands of Sarah Olivero. Dickinson finally got on the board at the 4:24 mark as Chapman knocked down a pair at the charity stripe to stop a 9-0 Kean charge.
Clair Marion then buried a shot from deep off a Kean turnover to make it 28-12.
Mia Kolb and
Abby John made it nine straight for the Red and Black, before consecutive treys by Kean pushed the margin back to 34-16 with just under three minutes to play. Chapman finished off an "old-fashioned" three-point play to wrap up the half at 36-19.
The two teams shared the opening dozen points of the third over the first three minutes. Buckets by
Lindsey Hollenshead and Chapman helped the Devils to trim the gap down to 45-30 with 5:12 remaining in the period. After a miss from deep at the other end Weinstein hit a tough floater in the lane to prompt a Cougar timeout. Dickinson locked down on defense over the next couple of minutes and went on a 6-0 run of their own as Chapman, Hollenshead, and Marion each hit two on the line to close within 45-38. After a Kean layup stopped the momentum for a moment
Caitlin Blackman and Chapman hit three of four on the line to make it 47-41 through 30 minutes.
Kean recorded the first basket of the fourth thanks to Olivero to extend the advantage, before Blackman delivered from long-range and Chapman finished in the paint to cut it down to three 49-46 still with 8:03 to play. The Devils got to within one thanks to a pair of Marion foul shots with seven minutes left. A layup by Shannon McCoy pushed it back to three at the halfway point of the frame. Dickinson finally got all the way back at the 5:30 when Blackman hit from deep, but was answered by consecutive layups from McCoy and Seaman to make it 55-51 with 2:30 to go. Back-to-back buckets for Chapman and Kolb tied things up again at the 8:40 mark. Chapman then gave the Red and White the lead with a 15-foot jumper to make it 57-55, before blocking a shot at the other end. Blackman split a pair at the charity stripe with 30-ticks left to lead DC in front 58-55. Out of a Cougar timeout #20 got a contested look for three, but had it come up short. However, the ball bounced off a Devil to lead to another Kean possession, but the buzzer-beating offering from #20 was heavily defended by Marion to secure the win.  Â
Red Devil Leaders
Points - Chapman (20), Marion (13), Blackman (9)
Rebounds - Blackman (8), Chapman and Hollenshead (7)
Assists - Marion (2)
Cougar Leaders
Points - Olivero (18), McCoy (12), Graff (11)
Rebounds - McCoy (7), Badeer (4)
Assists - Graff, McCoy, and Olivero (3)
Next on the Court
Dickinson now improves to 7-2 on the season and will put their six-game winning streak on the line tomorrow afternoon at 4pm when they wrap up their two-game Puerto Rico trip against SUNY Cortland.
