PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.- The Pace women's basketball team fell in an overtime heartbreaker to the Warriors of Merrimack College 75-70 in the First Round of the Northeast-10 Championship. The Setters finish their season at 14-13, while Merrimack improves to 16-11 and advances to the NE-10 Quarterfinals.
The Setters jumped out to an early 12-5 lead behind seven points from Brittany Shields (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) who completed a three-point play, while Jessica Scannell (Cork, Ireland/St. Vincents) (Cork, Ireland/St. Vincent's/Iona College) capped the run with a trifecta. The Warriors sliced the score down to a point at 12-11 but the Setters answered with the next seven points to extend out to a 21-11 lead with 11:40 to play in the half. Pace held the lead the rest of the half as they led by as much as 17 points before taking a 43-28 lead into halftime.
Pace extended their halftime advantage early in the second half as a triple by Margo Hackett (Pawling, NY/Pawling) (Pawling, NY/Pawling) gave the Setters their largest lead of the game at 19 points at 50-31 with 15:27 left in regulation. Just over a minute later, history was made as Shields grabbed her seventh rebound of the game at the 13:55 mark, becoming only the seventh player in school history to score 1,000 points and record 1,000 rebounds.
Merrimack slowly chipped away as they closed to within nine points at 57-48 with 7:14 left in the second half. The Setters pushed it back to double digits as Rachel Dortch (Columbus, NJ/Northern Burlington) (Columbus, NJ/Northern Burlington) hit a pair of free throws at the 6:13 mark to give Pace a 61-48 lead. The Warriors closed out regulation with 15 points, while the Setters netted four free throws in the final six minutes of the half.
The Setters led by six heading into the final minute but Merrimack Kelly Schatzlein's connected on a lay-up on a fast break. Schatzelin missed the ensuing free throw with :40.9 on the clock but the Warriors retained possession with an offensive rebound. Jaclyn Lyons sliced the score down to a point at 64-63 with a triple with :24.7 on the clock. On the next Pace possession, Yuni Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Long Island Lutheran) (Poughkeepsie, NY/Long Island Lutheran) hit 1-of-2 at the line with :20.3 left in regulation. The Warrior answered as Chloe Rothman forced the extra period with an elbow jumper with :6.2 on the clock to even the score at 65.
In overtime, the Warriors jumped to an early two-point lead but Pace answered with the next five points. Hackett connected on a jumper at the 2:41 mark to even the score at 67. Shields gave the Setters the lead as she scored on a lay-up with 1:49 on the clock and went 1-for-2 at the line with 1:20 to play to put Pace up 70-67. Merrimack answered as Allison Wagner connected on a triple with 1:06 to play in overtime and the Warriors went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the final minute to take the win.
For the Setters, Shields recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds along with five assists as she becomes only the seventh play in Pace women's basketball history to go 1,000-1,000 in points and rebounds for her outstanding career. She finished her career with 1,757 points and 1,006 rebounds, ranking third in school history in points and seventh in rebounds.
Hackett finished with 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting, while Allison Cleary (New Windsor, NY/Cornwall Central) added nine points and four rebounds. Scannell tallied six assists and three steals, while Sher finished with six points, six rebounds and three blocks. Dortch added six points and three blocks in the game.
