Women's basketball tops Misericordia in overtime

The Lady Colonels’ basketball team traveled to Misericordia and defeated their conference rival 49-43 in overtime last Tuesday, February 17. The hard-fought win snapped Wilkes’ five game losing skid heading into the contest, improving their record to 11-13 overall (6-10 in the conference). The loss dropped Misericordia to 12-12 overall on the season, with a 7-8 conference mark.

            Wilkes led 14-7 with ten minutes remaining in the first half in what would be its largest lead of the game; Misericordia tied things up at 14 apiece with a quick run shortly afterwards. The two teams exchanged baskets the rest of the way until the Cougars closed out the half with a 7-0 run to take a 24-17 lead. Both teams had trouble shooting in the first half, with Wilkes narrowly edging Misericordia 33.3 percent to 30.8 percent in field goal percentage.

            The Lady Colonels jumped out of the gate in the second half with a 13-2 run, taking a 30-26 lead with roughly fifteen minutes remaining in the game. 

“We were just really focused and wanted to win the game because it was a conference game,” said senior forward/guard Chelsey Gosse. “Our goal after halftime was to come out and go really hard and take the lead back.”

The two teams would go scoreless for a seven minute stretch following Wilkes’ comeback until Misericordia’s Lacey DeGraw hit a free throw. Wilkes took a 37-33 lead with less than three minutes remaining before the Cougars’ Jesse Robinson converted a fast break layup to tie things up at 37 apiece. Wilkes shot poorly in the second half (35 percent) but converted several blocks and steals into points to keep up with Misercordia, who recorded a staggering 14 steals in a game in which Wilkes committed 28 turnovers.

            The Lady Colonels outscored Misericordia 12-6 in overtime despite making only two shots from the field, hitting eight free throws en route to the win. Freshman guard Samantha Simcox and Gosse led Wilkes in scoring with 16 and 14 points, respectively, while freshmen center Lindsey Gosse led the team with 15 rebounds. Jesse Robinson and Lacey DeGraw both scored 14 points for the Cougars.

“We were confident; every time we’ve gone into overtime we’ve wanted to grab the win and come out on top,” said Gosse. “We knew before we stepped out onto the court for overtime that we wanted to take this one.”

Wilkes University’s women’s basketball team lost their regular season game to Lebanon Valley last Friday, 71-51. The Lady Colonels ended their season with a record of 11-14, their highest win total in several seasons.