Trailing by a game high 21 points in the opening of the second half, the Mount Ida College women's basketball team rallied back cutting the lead to three with 11 seconds remaining in the contest. Unfortunately, visiting Rivier College held off the surging Mustangs in the final ticks of the game taking home the 80-75 victory Saturday afternoon in Newton, Massachusetts. Mount Ida continues their skid at six consecutive games dropping to 4-12 overall and 0-5 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) while the Raiders improve to 12-5, 4-1 in conference play.
After the Mustangs netted the first basket of the game off a junior Cherie Parisi (North Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) lay-in, the visitors pulled ahead by eight points after a jumper by sophomore Steph Adams (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) leading 14-6.
Parisi, who scored 11 out of the first 13 points for the hosts, notched another bucket to pull Mount Ida within three, trailing 14-11 with 14:22 to go in the half. The Raiders started to gain momentum and slowly creep away. Freshman Allie Parent (Camden, ME/Camden Hills) gave the visitors a 13 point lead on a lay-in leading 26-13 with 9:24 to go.
The Mustangs powered an 8-0 run against the Raiders to cut the advantage to six points down 30-24 with a little over three minutes to go in the half. Unfortunately for Mount Ida, Rivier caught fire and powered a 12-0 run of their own to lead by 18 with 23 seconds remaining before the break, up 42-24. The teams eventually headed into the locker room with the Mustangs trailing 42-27.
It got worse for the hosts before it got better in the start of the second half with the Raiders leading by a game high 21 points twice up 50-29 with 16:28 to go in the game. Although it was back and forth for the next four minutes, the Mustangs managed to slowly chip away at the advantage and cut the lead to 12 points with 10:42 to go, down 56-44.
The score remained stagnant for the next three minutes with both teams exchanging baskets. Mount Ida cut the lead to single digits down eight points with 5:20 to go in the contest off an Ashley Boyd (Hanson, MA/Whitman-Hanson) jumper in the lane, trialing 66-58.
It was team effort to make the comeback while the Mustangs scored at will and refused to quit cutting the Raider advantage down to three points at 78-75 with 11 seconds to go. There just wasn't enough time remaining in the game for Mount Ida to take over. Rivier barely squeezed out the victory, winning 80-75.
It was a much better outing for the hosts shooting 43 percent from the field and a solid 86 percent from the foul line. The Raiders were 37 percent from the floor and 73 percent from the charity stripe.
The Mustangs saw numerous outstanding performances for many faces today. Parisi, who had a couple of tough outings the past few games, was back to her old self with 21 points and 13 rebounds, good for her sixth double-double of the year. Junior Nicole Casimiro (Lee, NH/Oyster River) enjoyed 20 points and six assists going 3-5 from three point land down the stretch. Freshman Hannah Blum (Raleigh, NC/Broughton) commanded the paint with 13 points and six caroms.
The Raiders had four players in double figures including a game high 25 points, six boards, and five steals from junior Blair Carpenter (Meredith, NH/InterLakes). Parent was also outstanding with 15 points, nine assists, and six boards. Junior's Monica White (Augusta, ME/Cony) and Jessica Mellen (Rockland, MA/Rockland) combined for 23 total points.
The Mustangs will host non-conference Wheelock College this coming Tuesday for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off.