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Women's basketball rally to force overtime, but drop a heartbreaker to Niagara

Women's basketball rally to force overtime, but drop a heartbreaker to Niagara

WELLAND, Ont. - After trailing for much of the contest and by as many as 11 in the second half, the Sheridan Bruins women's basketball team (10-11, 8-7 OCAA) rallied, scoring five points in the final 17 seconds of regulation to force overtime, but ultimately dropped a heartbreaker to Niagara, 83-80.

"I'm really proud of the effort tonight," head coach Willie Delas said. "At no point did we quit and that's exactly the type of team we want to be. There are few late-game situations that I think we could have handled better, but I think we've shown some exceptional growth."

It was a slow pace to begin, with Niagara holding a 15-13 lead after one. 

Midway through the second quarter, the homeside stretched their lead out to eight, but the Bruins climbed to within five at the break, trailing 35-30.

An 8-3 run gave Niagara their largest lead of the night - up 50-39 with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter - but again the Double Blue narrowed the margin to five, down 56-51 at the start of the fourth.

Sheridan pulled level with just under four minutes remaining when Brianna Stewart drilled a 3-ball to knot the game at 64-64. 

Niagara led 73-68 with 25 seconds remaining, but another Stewart 3-pointer, followed by a steal and layup at the other end by Theresa Brown, forced the extra period.

In overtime, the two sides traded the lead back and forth six times, but the home team closed on a 5-0 run to secure the win.

Stewart scored a game-high 23, while Brown (18), and Sydney Charvis (16 points, 10 rebounds) were also in double figures. 

The Bruins are back in action on Feb. 3, hosting Redeemer (4pm).