Women's Basketball Defeated 44-43 on Buzzer Beater by Eastern Nazarene

Quincy, Mass. – Freshman Nicole Bostic (North Easton, Mass.)tallied a career-high 19 points, but the Framingham State University women's basketball team was defeated 44-43 this evening on a last second basket by Eastern Nazarene's Shardae Brown.

Brown collected a season-high 17 points for Eastern Nazarene who improves to 3-2 on the season, while the Rams fall to 2-2 with the loss.

ENC and FSU proved to be evenly matched with neither team leading by more than four at any time during the game.  The score was tied on 11 occasions and the lead changed hands 12 times as the Lions and the Rams battled for control throughout the contest.

The first half was back and forth, although the Rams held a slight advantage at the break behind Bostic's ability to slash the lane. Bostic led all players with 12 points in first-half action, as FSU took a two point lead (22-20) into the locker room.

The Lions did not waste any time in the second half, with sophomore Dianna Bonds grabbing one of her six offensive boards to score in the first 30 seconds to even the score at 22.

Both teams played tough defense throughout the period, but with time winding down Eastern Nazarene looked like they would hold the Rams off. However, with just 32 seconds remaining and control of the ball, FSU called a 30-second timeout. ENC put together a strong defensive set, but as the shot clock ticked down to two, Framingham senior forward Emily Clark (Melrose, Mass.) hit a jumper to give her team the late lead with 11 seconds remaining.

With ten seconds on the clock, it was ENC's turn for a time-out. The Lions used all of the remaining ten seconds before Brown threw up a shot as she was swarmed by Ram defenders. It bounced off of the board and the rim, before slowing finding its way through the hoop as the horn sounded.

Bostic scored a game-high 19 points on 7-17 shooting from the floor. Sophomore Kristen Hoffman (Foxboro, Mass.) chipped in 10 points, grabbed a team-high seven boards and collected four steals in the game, while Clark finished with eight.

For the Lions, it was a well-balanced effort, with four players collecting nine or more rebounds. ENC out-rebounded FSU 59-35 and grabbed 27 off of the offensive glass. Junior Alexis Malloy was one point shy of the double-double, scoring nine and ripping down ten boards. Bonds tallied eight points and nine rebounds in just eleven minutes while junior teammate Mel Green equaled Bonds' rebound total and scored seven for the Lions. Brown's 17 rebounds bested all players and her last-second bucket counted for two of her six points on the night.

Eastern Nazarene travels to Roger Williams on Wednesday, November 30th to open Commonwealth Coast Conference play at 6 p.m. Framingham State will face Suffolk on December 1st at 6 p.m.

Release coutesy of ENC Sports Information.