Mulherin’s OT Buzzer Beater Sends Women’s Basketball Past Western New England
Daytona Beach, Fla. – Senior guard Raegan Mulherin (Baldwinville, Mass.) nailed a jumper as time expired in overtime to propel the Rams to a 90-89 victory over Western New England 90-89 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Rams close their Florida swing 2-0 and improve to 6-6 on the season. The Golden Bears are now 6-4.
The Rams were paced by sophomore guard Mary Kate O'Day (Berlin, Mass.) who scored a game-high 30 points going 10-for-17 from the floor and 6-of-12 from long range. Mulherin scored 19 points while junior Tiphani Harris (Revere, Mass.) added 18 points with a team-high 8 rebounds.
Dorothy O'Neill scored a team-best 22 points while Mghan Gilhool added 19 points on the night for WNEU. Meghan Orbann put up a double double with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
WNEU took pace early leading by nine late in the first period but the Rams answered cutting the lead to 1 after a 10-2 run capped by an O'Day trey in the final minute of the opening frame. After constant back-and-forth and multiple lead changes the Rams led by two points with 30 seconds left in regulation when Orbann tied the game at 81. The Rams were fouled with four seconds left and converted both free throws to regain the lead. The Golden Bears were fouled with two seconds to play and O'Neill hit her two shots from the line to send the game into overtime.
The Rams held a two-point lead in the final seconds and again the Golden Bears had a shot to tie. Courtney Carlson got one to fall with three seconds left and hit the back-end of her three-point play after the Rams fouled to put WNEU up 89-88. The Rams called timeout and advanced the ball to set up the Mulherin game-winner.
The two teams played a very even matched game. Rams shot 47.1% from the floor to the Golden Bears 48%. The Rams were 32.1% from long-range and 60% from the free throw line. WNEU was 35.7% from beyond the arc and 63.3% from the charity stripe.
The Rams return to action on Saturday, January 6th when they travel to Fitchburg State to open up MASCAC action.