North Branch, NJ - The RVCC women's basketball team hosted the Bears from Harcum College on Tuesday, December 10th in a Region XIX matchup. In what was thought to be a very close game, appeared to get out of control early. The Bears jumped on the Lions right away and took a commanding 13-point lead going into the second quarter. The Lions continued to fight back, and cut the lead to six points at 21-27 with an Ali McGrath layup off a Precious Allah behind the back pass. The Lions never managed to get any closer than 6 the rest of the quarter as they headed into halftime down 37-31.
The third quarter was very reminiscent of the first quarter as the Lions gave up 23 points and only managed to score 13 of their own to head into the fourth quarter down 60-44. The 16-point deficit didn't phase the Lions as they continued to claw their way back into the game. A Morenike Akinrefon offensive rebound and put back capped a 9-0 RVCC run to start the 4th quarter with a little over seven minutes to play. The Lions were down 6 with just under 5 minutes to play when a hard drive and kick by Dyliany De Leon resulted in a Eumani Hollins 3 pointer to cut the lead to 63-66. Hollins hit a team high three trifectas, all of which came in the final half of the fourth quarter. Hollins corralled a Harcum rebound, out-letted the ball to De Leon who hit a cutting McGrath for a layup with 2:20 to go to tie the score at 68 apiece. Harcum would score the next four points of the game in only 40 seconds, but that would be the last four points they would score all night long. A strong drive to the rim with the Lions down three sent McGrath to the free throw line with just 41 seconds to play. The sophomore guard from Dunellen High School calmly knocked down both shots from the charity stripe, but McGrath's shining moment was yet to come. Hard defensive pressure by the Lions forced the Bears into a turnover with just 22 seconds left. Raritan Valley decided to do what they usually do when the game is on the line, they put the ball in the hands of their star point guard Precious Allah. Little did they know it wouldn't be her initial ball handling that would lift the Lions, but her tenacity and never say die attitude that would take RVCC to victory. Allah attacked hard off a Morenike Akinrefon high ball screen and found an open McGrath for three. McGrath drove and kicked to Akinrefon who stepped back for a top of the key three pointer with just over 7 seconds to go. The shot hit the front of the rim, the backboad, and then the front of the rim again before the ball got lost in a scrum in the middle of the paint. In a sea of purple jerseys with most Harcum players standing nearly 6 feet tall, it was the lone Lion in the pack that came away with the offensive rebound, the 5-foot 4-inch Precious Allah. Allah found McGrath, who had the presence of mind to cut right to the rim, for a left-handed layup with .2 seconds on the clock to give the Lions a 74-73 lead. With Harcum's only chance at victory being a tipped in ball, Juliet Schott made sure she harassed the player throwing the ball inbounds to deny them a clean pass. Schott's pesky defense resulted in a tipped pass and the clock expired as the ball hit the floor to give the Lions the come from behind victory.
RVCC outscored Harcum 30 to 13 in the fourth quarter and completed their largest comeback win in over 5 years. Alison McGrath led all scorers with her personal season high of 24 points. Allah led the team with 6 dimes while De Leon filled the stat sheet with 4 steals, 5 assists, 9 rebounds, and 6 points. Hollins finished with 13 points and 10 boards for her team leading 7th double double of the season. Akinrefon was very consistent yet again as she finished with 12 points and nine boards.
RVCC currently sits at 6-5 overall and 3-4 in Region XIX play. They travel to Harrisburg Area Community College for a 5 P.M. matchup on 12/12 against the Hawks.
