The 19th ranked University of Mary Washington women's basketball team erased a five point deficit in the final two minutes, only to see Eastern Mennonite University score the game-winning basket with one second left in a 56-54 loss in Harrisonburg on Tuesday night. The Eagles fall to 6-2 on the season.
Trailing 54-49 with 1:51 remaining, senior Carol Dye made a layup to cut the deficit to 54-51. After a defensive stop, junior Sam Partonen hit a jumper to cut the deficit to one at 54-53 with 59 seconds remaining. After another EMU turnover, Erin Drumheller hit a free throw to tie the score with 21 seconds left. But EMU's Bianca Ygarza corralled a missed shot and made the putback with one second left for the win.
In a tight game in which neither team led by more than six throughout, UMW held a comfortable 27-15 advantage in rebounds, but shot 19 less free throws and committed 12 more turnovers (27-15) than the Royals.
Partonen scored 16 to lead UMW, while Dye recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Aby Diop had nine points and seven boards for the Eagles. Ygarza led EMU with 15 points.
The Eagles will be back in action on Saturday, December 15 at 6:30 p.m.