Women's Basketball Clipped in Final Second by Caldwell
Purple Knights climb back from 12-point third-quarter deficit.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – A three-pointer from Caldwell's Jah'Nel Lewis with 0.3 seconds left handed the University of Bridgeport's women's basketball team a 60-57 loss to the Cougars on Tuesday night.
Down by eight at halftime and by as many as 12 late in the third quarter, UB hung tough against their CACC divisional foe. In fact, the Purple Knights strung together a 16-0 run from the 2:26 mark of the third quarter to the 8:22 mark of the fourth to take a four-point lead.
Caldwell answered with a 7-0 spurt of their own to regain a three-point edge at the 5:41 mark. From there, it was a battle until the final whistle.
Minutes later, Harmony Earth-Wiley made a layup followed by two free throws to tie the game at 53-53 before Shakira Hester supplied UB with a 55-53 lead with a jump shot at the 3:25 mark.
With Bridgeport eventually down 57-55 in the final moments, Niyah Whitten knocked in a clutch layup with seven seconds on the clock to tie the game up at 57-57. Whitten finished the game with 12 points, two assists and two steals.
Mackenzie Creighton, meanwhile, served as UB's leading scorer with 13 points while Hester chipped in 10.
Hester's stat line was sensational on Tuesday as she finished the game with eight assists (team high), six rebounds and four steals (t-team high).
Ana Gascon led the Purple Knights with 11 rebounds in the loss. She is now leading Bridgeport in that category and ranks fifth in the CACC at 7.5 boards per contest.
Gascon also finished the game with four steals as UB totaled 11 as a team. They have now reached double-digit takeaways in four straight games and 11 total contests this season.
Individually, Gascon is ranked fifth in the CACC in steals per game (2.0).
The Purple Knights' offensive totals finished at 24-of-62 (38.7%) from the field and 6-for-27 (22.2%) from three-point range while Caldwell made half of their 14 attempts from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
The Purple Knights will visit Dominican on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip against the Chargers.
