Demet Saygili knocked down a short jumper with three seconds left in regulation Friday evening to lift Mary Baldwin to a 64-62 non-conference victory over Bridgewater College.
Bridgewater had tied the score when Jaden Alsberry scored from in close, making it 62-62 with 31 seconds remaining. Mary Baldwin's Monica Ramis missed a driving layup and the ball went out of bounds with possession going to the Eagles with 13 seconds remaining. After a BC timeout, Rosemary Pierson missed a shot from the lane and MBU's Mary Moran grabbed the rebound with eight seconds left. The Sqyirrels called timeout with six seconds left to set up the winning play. Saygili inbounded the ball to Ramis and Ramis found Saygili cutting toward the basket. Saygili pulled up and drained the 12-footer for the victory.
Bridgewater had MBU in a 10-point hole in the second quarter when Pierson hit a 3-pointer to put the visitors up 28-18 with 3:50 left in the half. Erika Nettles added two foul shots, giving Bridgewter it's biggest lead of the first half, 30-18. Nettles' free throws capped a 12-2 Eagles run.
MBU survived the Eagles' flurry and closed the half with a 10-4 run to pull within six points, 34-28 at the break.
Moran led a balanced Squirrels' attack with 11 points as six different MBU players scored at least seven points in the game. A'Cetta Farrait and Ramis also reached double figures with 10 points each. Saygili scored nine points, followed by Mekayla Clarke with eight points and Mya Coleman with seven.
Alsberry led the Eagles with 17 points and Nettles added 14.
Bridgewater owned a 54-41 edge on the boards with Alsberry pulling down 14 rebounds. Farrait and Saygili each finished with seven rebounds for the Squirrels. Mary Baldwin negated the BC rebounding advantage by forcing 28 turnovers.
Mary Baldwin made 10 more field goals than Bridgewater, but the Eagles made 20-of-30 free throws while the Squirrels were just 2-for-3 from the foul line.
Mary Baldwin returns to action Sunday afternoon when the Squirrels host Washington and Lee.