Women's Basketball Defeats Grace Christian 79-77 on Last Second Layup From Beatrice Bruno; Ashley Smoldt & Amelia McNutt Eclipse 1,000 Points Scored

WYOMING, Mich. – The Roosevelt University women's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak on a last second layup by Beatrice Bruno to earn a thrilling 79-77 non-conference victory over Grace Christian University (Mich.) on Monday, November 29 at the Aldrich Athletic Center.  The win raised the Lakers overall record to 3-5 on the year.

The Lakers fell behind 12-3 with 5:32 to go in the opening quarter, but outscored the Tigers 10-4 the rest of the stanza to cut the deficit to 16-13 heading into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Roosevelt got back-to-back buckets from Beatrice Bruno and Nicole Poole to take a 17-16 lead and then led 26-24 with 6:41 remaining in the half.  The Lakers built a 34-26 advantage behind three-pointers from Amelia McNutt and Poole, but the Tigers pulled to within 34-31 with 3:33 to go.  However, the Lakers closed out the half on a 9-2 run to take a 43-33 lead into the locker room at the half.

Grace Christian scored the first seven points of the second half to close to within 43-40 and then regained the lead at 46-45 with 6:24 to go in the third quarter.  The two teams traded the lead before the Tigers built a 62-57 advantage to close out the period.

The Tigers extended their lead to 68-59 to open the final quarter, but the Lakers went on a 13-3 run to regain the lead at 72-71 with 4:01 left to play.  The home team came back with five straight points to once again go ahead and lead 76-72 with just 3:13 left in the game.  However, Jessica White knocked down two free throws and Bruno hit a three-pointer to put the Lakers up 77-76 with 2:16 on the clock. 

With just over two minutes left to play, the Tigers tied the game on a free throw and then both teams were held scoreless until the final seconds when Shawna Conger fed Bruno for a layup with one second left on the clock to seal RU's 79-77 victory.

GAME DETAILS

Score:   Roosevelt                            13           30           14           22           79
                Grace Christian                  16           17           29           15           77

Records: Roosevelt 3-5 // Grace Christian 3-3

Location: Aldrich Athletic Center | Wyoming, Mich.

KEY STATS

• Beatrice Bruno came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting
• Amelia McNutt scored 11 points & dished out three assists
• Shawna Conger also scored 11 points
• Jessica White pulled down nine rebounds to go with nine points
• Ashley Smoldt also had nine rebounds along with eight points
• The Lakers shot 43.1% from the field & 29% from three-point range
• The Tigers shot 44.3% overall & 22.7% from behind the arc

NEWS & NOTES

• Ashley Smoldt scored her 1,000^th career point as a Laker
• Amelia McNutt also eclipsed 1,000 points in her collegiate career, which included her time at Rochester University (Mich.) & Mid Michigan College at the NJCAA level
• This was the first-ever meeting between the Lakers & Tigers

NEXT UP

The Lakers travel to Notre Dame, Ind. on Wednesday, December 1 to take on Holy Cross College in a CCAC Conference contest.  Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30pm at McKenna Arena on the campus of Holy Cross.