Behind Roland's Buzzer-Beater, Women Beat NJIT, 68-63 OT

Sunday, November 16

Hanover, N.H.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-0

NJIT

0-2

OT 1

NJIT

Dartmouth

Behind Roland's Buzzer-Beater, Women Beat NJIT, 68-63 OT

11/16/2014 4:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – Junior Lakin Roland hit a buzzer beating tip-in to force overtime and the Dartmouth women's basketball team defeated NJIT, 68-63 (OT), on Sunday afternoon at Leede Arena.

Senior Milica Toskovic joined Roland with a double-double, as the duo combined for 32 points and 22 rebounds. Sophomore Fanni Szabo led all scorers with 21points and added nine rebounds. Roland's 18 points and 11 rebounds were just some pieces of the puzzle to her game on Sunday. The Big Green's power forward also added two blocks, including an important rejection with 2:02 left in regulation. Roland finished 6-of-13 from the floor and made 6-of-7 from the line.

Toskovic's finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but was a catalyst late in regulation breaking a tie with 1:14 left on a baseline layup. After Toskovic's basket, NJIT took its first lead of the game with a trey from the elbow with 44 seconds remaining. The visitors added a free throw by Alyssa Albanese before junior Daisy Jordan tied the game with a layup with 12 ticks left.

The final seconds will go down as one of the wildest finishes in recent years at Leede Arena. The Highlanders used a timeout to regroup from Jordan's tying basket and Albanese went coast-to-coast to give NJIT a 57-55 lead with 0.6 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds Alana Dudley knocked the ball out of bounds in front of the Dartmouth bench.

The referees went to the replay and put 0.4 seconds on the clock.

Toskovic, the inbounder, sent a pass over NJIT's 6-5 center Maria Ruban towards the far baseline and Roland tipped-in the ball as the clock expired. After further review, it was concluded that Roland's finger released the ball before the red light was illuminated.

In overtime, neither side scored until 2:46 when Szabo hit a jumper to give the Big Green a two-point lead. Dartmouth outscored NJIT 11-6 in the extra period, with Szabo scoring the final four points at the line.

Early in the second half, Dartmouth had its 10-point lead erased by the Highlanders as Leah Horton scored six of her 12 points during the stretch. With 10:19 remaining, Ronni Grandison scored on a layup to make it a one-point Big Green lead, 40-39.

In the final 10 minutes of the stanza, Dartmouth's lead did not surpass six points, as the Highlanders defense and outside shooting stepped up.

Dartmouth finished the game shooting 37 percent from the floor and 65 percent from the line. NJIT shot 32 percent from the field and connected on 8-of-20 from the outside.

Jordan got the Big Green on the board on the first offensive possession of the season with a jumper after Toskovic grabbed a defensive rebound and moved the ball up court.

Dartmouth jumped up to a five-point lead, 9-4, following a three-pointer by Szabo and a jumper from the free throw line by Roland. The Jeffersonville, Indiana product led the Green and White with 13 points at the break and was effective on both ends of the floor.

Martina Matejcikova hit a three with 10:41 to drop Dartmouth's lead at 11-10. On the next possession freshman Kate Letkewicz scored her first points of her career with a shot in the paint.

freshman Olivia Smith was a presence in her eight minutes off the bench for the Big Green. The freshman took a charge and then had an assist on a layup by Szabo with 7:08 left. The Big Green increased their lead, 19-12, midway through the half on a jumper by Szabo at the eight-minute mark.

Horton completed a three-point play with 33 seconds remaining in the half to decrease the deficit, 26-22. Szabo then nailed a buzzer-beater from the outside to put the Big Green ahead by seven (29-22) at the break.

NJIT finished with three players in double figures and a pair of double-doubles by Albanese (14-11) and Horton (12-10). Dudley contributed 10 points. The Highlanders outrebounded Dartmouth, 53-44, overall.

Dartmouth will host Holy Cross on Thursday at 7 p.m. Brett Franklin will have the call on the Ivy League Digital Network.