Rochester, N.Y. – The Roberts Wesleyan women's basketball team came away with a thrilling 69-68 victory over rival Daemen College on Saturday afternoon, upsetting the Wildcats chance at making the East Coast Conference tournament.
 
With two seconds left in the game junior guard Brooke Fields connected on 1-of-2 free throws to give the Redhawks a 69-68 lead. The Wildcats would get a chance at a last second attempt, but were unable to get a shot off.
 
While Fields shot proved to be the difference on the score line it was junior Lucy Covley's shot that gave the Redhawks an opportunity to win the game. With the Wildcats holding a 65-68 lead, Covley grabbed the rebound off the second shot of two missed free throws by Natalie Galus. After a timeout and the ball being advanced to midcourt Sara Nady's three-pointer with 19 seconds left missed the mark, but freshman Emily Miller gathered the rebound and kicked it out to Covely who took the deep shot from the right hand corner and had the ball roll around the rim before dropping in to tie the game at 68-68.
 
Fields finished the game with a team-leading 17 points and Covley added 14 points on the day.
 
Neither team held a double digit lead in the back-and-forth game. Daemen's seven point advantage midway through the fourth quarter was the largest lead of the contest. The Redhawks largest lead was just five points.
 
"It wasn't the prettiest game for us," head coach Gary Andrews said. "I didn't think we played a good first half, but I was happy with the team's resilience to come out and play a stronger second half. You have to find a way to get the win in these close games."
 
The Redhawks struggled in the first half to take care of the ball turning the ball over 10 times. The team also had difficulties scoring in the first half shooting under 35-percent from the field (12-of-35), but at the half the score was tied 32-32. Roberts cleaned up their play in the second half with just three turnovers.
 
For the Wildcats senior Leah McDonell led the way with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists. The guard also scored her 1,000 point for the Daemen program.
 
Roberts Wesleyan finishes regular season play with a 17-11 overall record and an 11-7 conference record. The Redhawks will host NYIT on Wednesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. in the Voller Athletic Center for a quarterfinal matchup in the East Coast Conference Playoffs. Roberts is 2-0 this year against the Bears who hold a 16-10 overall record.