PEDERZANI’S LATE THREE POWERS JWU OVER EMMANUEL, 49-45

BOSTON, Mass. – Junior guard Raquel Pederzani (Coventry, R.I.) buried a three with 8.4 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Johnson & Wales University women's basketball team the lead for good in a 49-45 victory over host Emmanuel College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action Sunday afternoon at the Andy Yosinoff Court. The win lifts the Wildcats to 6-5 on the year and 1-1 in GNAC play while the loss drops the Saints to 6-5 and 2-1 in the GNAC.

Trailing 45-44 with the shot clock off, the Wildcats used two timeouts to set up the perfect play for the win. Coming out of the second timeout, Pederzani peeled off a screen on the right wing and drained her third three-pointer of the afternoon to give Johnson & Wales a 47-45 lead with 8.4 tics left on the clock.

The Saints called a timeout to advance the ball but were unable to get a shot off before turning the ball over with 2.0 seconds left in regulation. Junior guard Kristen Habbel (Phoenixville, Pa.) connected on two free throws in the bonus to round out the scoring in favor of the Wildcats at 49-45.

Emmanuel opened the game on fire, jumping out to a 7-0 lead but Johnson & Wales fired back with a 19-2 spurt over the final five minutes of the first quarter and into the opening minutes of the second stanza to take a 19-7 lead.

JWU led by as many as 12 points in the first half following a baseline jumper by sophomore forward Ally Mishol (Longmeadow, Mass.) to give the visitors a 24-12 cushion. Emmanuel rallied to pull within two points after a pair of free throws by senior forward Alexis Ezell (Acworth, Ga.) with 20 seconds to play in the half to make it 26-24. Mishol rounded out the half's scoring with two more from the charity stripe to account for a 28-24 JWU lead at the break.

The Saints made up some ground in the third quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 14-11 to pull within one at 39-38 heading into the final stanza.

EC senior forward Jen Chalk (Horseheads, N.Y.) finished a layup in traffic to open the scoring in the fourth to give the Saints a 40-39 lead, their first lead of the action since the 2:36 marker in the first quarter. Emmanuel led the majority of the fourth quarter before a layup from senior center Ashley Thompson (Bellingham, Mass.) evened the score at 44-44 with 2:24 to play. Senior guard Olivia Marks (Canterbury, Conn.) had a chance to make it a three point game from the free throw line with under two minutes to play but only converted one of the three from the stripe to give the hosts a 45-44 lead, setting up the late game heroics by Pederzani and the Wildcats.

Pederzani led all scorers with 17 points while Thompson finished with 15 points. Mishol was also in double-figures for JWU with 12 points as the trio combined for 90% of the team's offensive production.

Chalk paced the Saints with a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds while Ezell added 12 points and six rebounds.

Emmanuel returns to action on Tuesday, January 10 for a road game against Mount Ida College scheduled for 6:00 PM in Newton, Mass. Johnson & Wales is back the same evening playing host to Saint Joseph's College (ME) at 7:00 PM.