NEW LONDON, Conn. – Junior Molly Cronin (Wellesley, Mass.) scored 15 points and hit the deciding clutch basket down the stretch as the Connecticut College women's basketball team triumphed over Trinity by a 53-51 score in NESCAC action at the Charles B. Luce Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
 
A turnover by the Bantams with the game tied at 51 gave the Camels the ball in their offensive end with 28.5 seconds left. Sophomore Rebecca Oberman-Levine (Hamden, Conn.) was given the ball near the right block, and after taking a dribble, she found a cutting Cronin on the right side behind her. Cronin then drove through the lane and made an off-balance shot while evading two defenders with 12.1 seconds remaining to give her team the lead.
 
Trinity, which entered the game undefeated in conference play, advanced the ball by calling a timeout and had plenty of time to at least tie the score and force overtime. Samantha Gallo got a good look down low to knot the score, but she was defended well by Oberman-Levine with help from senior Emily Tripp (Westport, Mass.). Gallo's shot missed off the backboard and was rebounded by Tripp as the buzzer sounded to allow the Camels to escape with their first NESCAC win.
 
Both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm early on, as the first points of the game didn't come until Oberman-Levine converted a jumper with 7:11 on the clock. The Camels got a 3-pointer from Cronin to start pulling ahead and did not allow the Bantams to hit a field goal until Tori Varsamis drilled a 3-pointer with about 1:11 left in the opening quarter to make it 12-7. Sophomore Aislinn McMahon (Andover, Mass.), however, answered on the other end with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer of her own to give the hosts an eight-point cushion through 10 minutes of action.
 
Connecticut College, which never trailed in the contest, remained in control to start the second quarter and built up a commanding 24-10 advantage when freshman Catie Donadio (Clinton, Conn.) found Tripp for a trifecta at the 4:28 mark. The Bantams, however, responded with eight unanswered and got sparked by a 3-point play the old-fashioned way by Reilly Campbell to pull within six. Tripp answered with a lefty layup following a timeout, and the Camels took a 26-19 advantage into recess.
 
The Bantams, who outscored the hosts in three of the four quarters, continued chipping away at the deficit in the third after being plagued with ice cold shooting and brought the margin down to four twice in the frame. Varsamis, who only shot from beyond the arc, nailed one of her three shots from downtown to make it 39-35 to conclude the quarter.
 
Trinity (11-4, NESCAC 4-1) eventually tied the game for the first time of the half at 45-all by getting back-to-back treys from Bailey Hyland and Campbell, but the Camels would never surrender the lead. Cronin scored her first points of the frame to push the hosts ahead again by a 47-45 score at the midway point before eventually providing the offensive heroics in the waning seconds to break a 51-51 deadlock and decide the game.
 
Connecticut College was paced by Cronin and junior Jaycie Rojik (Scituate, Mass.). Cronin scored her team-high 15 points by shooting 6-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-8 from long range. She also had three steals and dished out two assists. Rojik additionally netted twin figures with 13 points, while Tripp contributed five points and six boards.
 
Campbell led Trinity by registering a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds to go along with two blocks off the bench. Varsamis tallied a game-high 16 points, and Gallo concluded the game with 12 points and five rebounds.
 
Connecticut College (3-13, NESCAC 1-3) will continue what has become a six-game homestand when it next hosts Williams on Friday evening at 7 p.m.