Houghton Edges Alfred in Last Minute
(Houghton,
N.Y.)—The Houghton College women’s basketball team
used a 9-2 run in the last 38 seconds of play to
break a 49-49 tie and defeat Alfred University 58-51
Wednesday night at the Nielsen Center.
Cassie Merrill hit a three-pointer with
37.4 seconds left to give Houghton the lead for
good. Alfred’s Catherine Hoffman responded by
hitting a driving layup with 29.4 seconds remaining,
but those would be the last points that Alfred would
score.
The Highlanders hit six free throws in
eight attempts at the end—including four from Leah
French—to give them the final edge.
“I was really scared about this game,” said Head Coach
Skip Lord. “I was scared about it because we played
an away game last night and didn’t get back to
Houghton until 3:00 a.m., and then we had to come
out here and play a tough, local team.”
Despite the late night, the Highlanders took an early
lead, 20-8 with 5:18 left in a first half marked by
cold shooting from both teams. Houghton was 7-27
from the field in the half, including an icy 1-11
from three-point range. Alfred shot just 6-25, with
2-4 from beyond the arc. The Saxons did hit six of
seven free throws, and climbed back in the game to
trail by just 22-20 at the half.
“It’s a local Allegany County rivalry,” said Lord. “They
played us tough last year and I knew they were going
to come back and play tough again this year. [Alfred
Head Coach] Heidi Metzger does such a great job of
preparing those kids, and they work so hard. I knew
they would come in here ready to play.”
The second half proved to be every bit the close,
hard-fought game that Lord expected, with Houghton
holding a lead throughout the half, but never
breaking away. With less than five minutes to go,
Houghton led 47-42, but Alfred surged back to tie it
up at 49 with less than a minute to go.
“Part of the difference was we were able to play pretty
deep into the bench in the first half,” Lord said,
“and that allowed us to maybe maintain our legs a
little bit more in the second half. That helped us.”
“At the end we went to more of a veteran lineup—our
senior captains Becky Kallal (pictured above),
Cassie Merrill and Ashley Scudder really got the job
done,” Lord said.
It was sophomore forward French, though, who led all
scorers with 15,
including 11 of 12 from the free throw line.
Merrill had 12 for the Highlanders, shooting 4-6
from three-point range.
Lisa Button had 14 to lead the Saxons. Catherine Hoffman
added 11, shooting 5-7 from the field.
The win evens Houghton’s record at 2-2, while Alfred
drops to 1-4. The Highlanders’ next game is Friday
night; they travel to SUNY Canton for a 6:00 tip.
Alfred is at Stevens on Friday for a 5:00 game.
