Box Score 12/10/24

WEST WINDSOR TWP., NJ -- In a fourth quarter chock-full of big shots down the stretch, Lackawanna women's basketball hit the biggest one, as Saraiah Franklin scored on a put-back with five seconds remaining to lift the Falcons to an entertaining 77-76 win on the road against Mercer County CC in Region XIX DII women's basketball action on Tuesday night.
 
The Falcons (8-4, 5-2) overcame two separate six-point deficits in the final five minutes, and found themselves down 73-72 with just under a minute to go. Mercer (7-3, 4-3) split a pair of free throws to make it 74-72, Vikings, and Lackawanna needed a bucket. Desiree White (Carlisle, PA), who had a breakout performance with 20 points, answered the bell with a big corner three-pointer with 45 seconds remaining, catapulting the Falcons to the front at 75-74. Undaunted, the Vikings answered with a runner in the lane with 31 seconds left to re-take the lead. The Falcons worked the clock to about 12 seconds before taking a corner three that missed long, but the carom deflected off Mercer with 10.4 seconds on the baseline. After a timeout, Lackawanna inbounded to Salote Franklin (Philadelphia, PA) cutting to the rim, who got fouled trying to shoot with 7.1 seconds. She missed the first free throw short, and the second bounced on the rim twice before dropping out, but that's where her sister Saraiah (Philadelphia, PA) was waiting in the lane, grabbing the miss and quickly pumping it back up and in off the glass with five seconds to go to give Lackawanna the 77-76 lead.
 
Mercer hustled the ball down the court and called timeout with 3.2 seconds to play, but the shot in the lane on their inbounds play hit the back iron and bounced long, wasting just enough time for the clock to run out and the Falcons to escape with the victory.
 
It was back-and-forth throughout the night, with Lackawanna building a six-point halftime lead, only to see Mercer close the gap in the second half, then take their own six-point advantage midway through the fourth quarter. White scored 12 of her 20 points in the second half, including eight in the deciding fourth quarter.
 
Besides White's 20, the Falcons also got 20 points from Salote Franklin, 14 from Saraiah Franklin, and 13 points from Jayla South (Long Pond, PA). Mercer's Gabby Ross led all scorers with 27 points, while Jada Queen added 18 and Zaakirah Edwards put up 16.
 
The win is the second straight for the Falcons in Region XIX DII play and will move the Falcons into sole possession of third place in the Region XIX DII standings behind unbeaten Union and second-place Harcum College. The Falcons are back to Region XIX DII action when they travel to Carneys Point, NJ to take on Salem CC on Saturday, December 14^th. Tip-off is set for 1:00pm ET. It will be the final game of the 2024 portion of the schedule for the Lackawanna College women.