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Late rally sinks CHC women
by TOM UTESCHER
Bringing an overall record of 1-5 to Chestnut Hill College last Tuesday
evening, the Hood College Blazers soon found themselves behind once more,
trailing the host Griffins 33-24 at halftime.
The deck seemed stacked against the visitors, but as a graduate of T.C.
Williams, the Blazers’ Rita Willis could always “remember
the Titans.” The football movie was set at her Alexandria, VA high
school, and in the second half of last week’s game the senior forward
performed some heroics of her own as she finished with 21 points, seven
rebounds, four steals, three assists, and two blocked shots. Most importantly,
she scored six points in the last four minutes, helping Hood put up the
final nine points of the contest to win 63-54.
It was the first loss of the season for the CHC Griffins, whose record
slipped to 3-1 both in the Atlantic Women’s College Conference and
overall.
Chestnut Hill forward Kate Quintus recorded 12 points and 11 rebounds
for a double-double and another dozen points came from shooting guard
Bethanne Castone (eight rebounds, six assists). Lindsey Tornetta and Marianne
Finfrock each deposited ten points for CHC, which also received six from
Andrea Carter (seven rebounds) and four from Tara Walsh.
The visitors (1-0 in the AWCC) backed up Willis with 15 points from forward
Danielle Gallagher and 11 from guard Dana Shook (nine rebounds, three
assists, three steals).
Chestnut Hill was ahead for much of the evening, but at the ten-minute
mark in the first half a free throw by Willis gave the Blazers an 18-17
edge. Castone and Tornetta hit jumpers from the baseline, Castone backed
out for a three-pointer, and Carter put in a pair of foul shots in a 9-0
run for the Griffins, who led by nine at the intermission.
In the first period, CHC’s Castone, Quintus, and Tornetta had combined
for 26 points, but after the intermission they had just eight points between
them. Meanwhile Hood’s Willis came on to score 13 of her 21 in the
second half.
Midway through the period the Blazers pulled within four at 47-43, then
they stumbled at the foul line, culling only two points from nine attempts
over the next three minutes. Trailing 52-47, Hood made another push, and
this time the visitors moved ahead by two before a layup by the Griffins’
Carter tied the score at 54-all with four minutes to go.
Time outs for both sides slowed the game down, but after back-to-back
layups by Willis, the Blazers led 58-54 with just over a minute to go.
The next four Chestnut Hill possessions ended with turnovers on a double-dribble
and three missed field goal attempts, and Hood, now in the foul double-bonus,
hit five of six free throws to seal the deal.
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