PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. ­– In what turned into a wild, nip-and-tuck instant classic, the Pace University women's basketball team (13-2, 7-1 NE10) escaped the Goldstein Fitness Center with a 63-62 victory over Assumption University (5-7, 2-5 NE10) on Monday.
 
The heart-pounding matchup featured nine lead changes and seven ties. The final 17 seconds of action alone saw three lead changes.
 
The win was the Setters' second straight, their eighth in the last nine games, and preserved their undefeated home record at 8-0.
 
Pace went into the half up 33-25 and built up to their biggest lead of the game, 40-28, at 8:21 of the third quarter, off a jumper from graduate student Lauren Schetter (Beacon, N.Y./Beacon High School). The next 15 minutes of gametime belonged to the Greyhounds.
 
With Schetter on the bench for extended minutes due to foul trouble, Assumption outscored the Blue and Gold 28-11 over that time span, and not only erased their deficit, but managed to take a 56-51 lead with just 3:17 to go in the contest.
 
It was at this point that the game went into another gear.
 
A jumper from sophomore Katumina Mansaray (Ontario, Canada/Cardinal Newman Secondary School/Tilton School) was swiftly matched by Monica Spain to push the lead back to five.
 
After both teams squandered chances, and with just over two minutes to go in the game, graduate student Naya Rivera (Pomona, N.Y./North Rockland) was sent to the line. She missed both free-throw attempts but would have an opportunity to make amends later in the game.
 
Pace was still down five with :32 seconds to play when Schetter found senior Lauren Hackett (Commack, N.Y./St. Anthony's) at the top of the arc for a three, cutting the lead to the two.
 
After a pair of Greyhound free throws pushed the lead to four, it was Hackett's turn to facilitate, driving into the lane and kicking the ball out to Mansaray on the wing for a crucial three with :20 seconds left to cut the lead to one.
 
After the Greyhounds called a timeout in order to inbound the ball on their end of the court, Schetter flew from close to the baseline and got her fingertips on the inbounds pass, allowing Hackett to steal the ball and run down the court unimpeded for a layup, giving Pace a 61-60 lead with :17 seconds to play.
 
On their final possession, Assumption's Amanda Mieczkowski made an incredibly difficult jumper off the backboard with five seconds left to restore her team's lead.
 
Out of timeouts, Pace quickly inbounded the ball and Schetter stormed down the court, finding Rivera open in the paint. An Assumption foul put the graduate student back on the free throw line with the game in her hands, and 0.3 seconds left.
 
"Honestly, scouting-wise, they would want to put me on the line," said Rivera after the game. "They thought I would mess up, so I just said to myself, 'You know what? I have nothing to lose. I'm going to put these shots up and I'm going to make them.'"
 
And make them she did, giving the Setters a one-point lead.
 
Rivera, coming off a career-high 26 point, 10-for-10 shooting performance, finished the afternoon with six points and six rebounds.
 
A last millisecond Greyhounds heave at the buzzer was off and secured the Pace win.
 
The Blue and Gold victory was a total team effort. Hackett led in scoring and assists, with 16 and 4 respectively. Schetter scored 14 points and notched five rebounds, to go along with two blocked shots.
 
Mansaray scored 11 points and grabbed five boards. Senior Kelsey Quain (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining) also scored 11 points, including three clutch three-pointers. Jasmine White (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) led the team in rebounds with seven.
 
Up Next
The Setters will be right back in action when they host Stonehill on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.