ALBANY, N.Y. – Freshman Jackie DelliSanti (Commack, NY/Commack) capped off a big second half and overtime by scoring the game-winning basket with 10.6 left on the clock in the extra period, lifting the Pace University women's basketball team to a crucial Northeast-10 Conference victory over the College of Saint Rose Wednesday evening at the David P. Nolan Gymnasium.
 
PLAYOFF SITUATION
- Wednesday's victory put the Setters in the driver's seat for the fifth and final spot out of the NE10's Southwest Division, and within striking distance of the No. 4 seed, which would host a first-round NE10 Championship Tournament game.
- The Setters are tied with Southern Connecticut State University, their opponent on Tuesday, Feb. 21 in the season finale, at 6-12 in NE10 play. The Setters currently hold the tiebreaker over the Owls after defeating them earlier this season.
- Pace is a half game out of fourth behind now 7-12 Saint Rose with a game in hand on the Golden Knights.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
1ST QUARTER
- Even play early on saw both team knotted up at 12-12 with 2:24 left in the first.
- Senior Aurellia Cammock (Brooklyn, NY/South Shore / Iona College) then laid one in off a feed from graduate student Jaclyn Oskam (Glenmont, NY/Bethlehem Central / Quinnipiac University), and then senior Christina Rubin (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic / Iona College) followed with a three to give the Setters a five-point edge.
- Saint Rose's Taylor Nazon got a finger-roll to go right before the buzzer, leaving Pace up, 17-14, heading into the second.
 
2ND QUARTER
- The Golden Knights opened the quarter with a three-point play for Staci Barrett, tying the game at 17-17.
- The Setters led, 27-26, with 4:56 left in the frame, before sophomore Stefanie Svoboda (Ossining, NY/Ossining) drained a triple to go up by four.
- Oskam followed with her first three of the game just 20 seconds later to give the Setters a seven-point lead.
- After Saint Rose got back within two, the Setters went on a 6-0 run, including a pair of layups by senior Kirsten Dodge (Fabius, NY/Fabius-Pompey), to go up, 39-31, with 1:32 left in the half.
- Saint Rose's Karissa Birthwright scored the final two points of the half on a pair of free throws, but the Setters took a 39-33 advantage into the locker room.
 
HALFTIME STATS
- Dodge led the Setters with 10 points and seven rebounds at the break.
- Sophomore Alexandra Monteleone (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) was close behind with eight points.
- Barrett led the Golden Knights with nine points at the break.
 
THIRD QUARTER
- The Setters opened the second half with a 9-0 run to take a 48-33 lead with 7:06 left in the third.
- The Golden Knights then scored the next seven points to get back within eight.
- After the Setters went up, 54-44, Saint Rose scored the final five points of the third period, sending the game into the fourth quarter with the Setters leading 54-49.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
- Ashley Vanderwall hit a three to open the fourth and get the Golden Knights within two.
- Dodge then went to the line, but only made the front end of her two shots.
- Vanderwall followed with another three, tying the game at 55-55 with 8:47 on the clock.
- Dodge made another free throw the next time down the court, and followed up on the next possession with a layup to put the Setters back up by three.
- Taylor Nazon then forced a three-point play for the Golden Knights, once again tying the game.
- After Svoboda made a free throw, Barrett sank a jumper for Saint Rose to give the Golden Knights their first lead since the opening minutes of the game at 60-59.
- Dodge then made another foul shot to tie, but Barrett hit another jumper to make it a 62-60 lead for the home team with 5:39 left in regulation.
- Monteleone picked up two to tie the game, and DelliSanti later made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to put Pace back in the lead.
- The game was once again tied at 66 before Monteleone made a strong play to score two and give the Setters a two-point edge with just 41 seconds remaining.
- Nazon managed to draw a foul with just four seconds left, sending her to the line with a chance to tie the game.
- Nazon missed the first chance, forcing Saint Rose to call a timeout a figure out new plan.
- Nazon then missed the second shot, but Birthwright got her hands on the ball in a scrum under the basket, and put it back up, where it bounced around the rim and fell through the net, tying the game at the buzzer to send it into overtime at 68-68.
 
OVERTIME
- Birthwright scored the first points of the extra period after drawing a foul and making both chances.
- DelliSanti then tied the game with a jumper near the baseline, but Vanderwall hit a three to give the Golden Knights a 73-70 advantage with 2:28 on the clock.
- Dodge was then able to put one in off the glass, but Morgan Sullivan hit a layup shortly after to keep Saint Rose's lead at three.
- DelliSanti then fought her way to the basket and laid it in with 1:20 to go get back within one.
- Birthwright tried to expand the lead again, but DelliSanti came in and swatted the ball away to give Pace a chance to take the lead with under a minute to go.
- The Setters were unable to find a good look, and Dodge had to force up a jumper right before the shot clock hit zero, but it did not go.
- Birthwright then found her way to the free-throw line, but missed both shots, leaving Pace down by a point with 32 seconds left.
- DelliSanti got the ball at the wing, drove left, backed down her defender and then beat her through contact, scoring on a strong play to put the Setters on top, 76-75, with just 10.9 on the clock.
- The Setters then locked down on defense, forcing Vanderwall to put up an off-balance shot from the top of the key at the buzzer, missing the potential game-winner to give the Setters a vital road win.
 
SETTER STATS
- DelliSanti scored 14 points in the second half and overtime, including six in the extra period alone, to finish with a team-high and career-high 20 points in the win. She also pulled down seven boards and dished out three assists.
- Dodge had a big game as well, finishing a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, adding five blocks to an impressive evening.
- Monteleone ended up with 15 points, two assists and two steals.
 
GOLDEN KNIGHT LEADERS
- Vanderwall led all scorers with 23 points after making seven threes in the game.
- Birthwright finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double.
- Barrett joined her with a double-double of her own after scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 boards.
 
RECORDS
- Pace: 12-14 (6-12 NE10)
- Saint Rose: 12-13 (7-12 NE10)
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
- The Setters return home for Play4Kay Day and Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 18, as they host the University of New Haven in another NE10 matchup. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m., with Senior Day being celebrated prior to tip-off.
 
For all information regarding Pace University women's basketball, log on to www.PaceUAthletics.com and follow Pace Women's Basketball on Facebook (Pace Women's BBall), Twitter (@PaceWBB) and Instagram (@PaceWBB).
Tweet #GoPace