The first half was one of streaks as the Devils took an early 10-4 lead with four minute gone after a bucket by Courtney Young. After a timeout, the Rangers responded with 15-4 run of their own. Kraft began the charge with a nice drive and lay-up from the wing. Allison Hartnett hit a free throw before Kraft struck again with a jumper. Cunningham set up Maggie Marquis on the fast break and Hartnett drilled a three from the top of the arc on a well run play. A lay-up and triple from Cunningham finished the run with Drew up 19-14. The Rangers would eventually expand that lead to seven with just under nine to play on a jumper by Maggie Marquis. Two minutes later, Hartnett hit two free throws for a 30-20 lead, the largest for either team in the game. A three and a lay-up by Jessie Chalmers brought it back to five points. Chalmers burned the Rangers again in the final minute of play as she sank a jumper and completed a three point play for the 32-32 tie at the half. Chalmers finished the half with 18 points while Hartnett led the Rangers with ten.
FDU came out of the break better, building a five point lead by the 15:20 mark on a three-point play by Danielle Michlovsky. Cunningham responded with one of her own and Kraft hit one of her trademark step-back threes to put Drew up by one, 49-48. The Devils countered with 7-2 spurt, including a pair of jumpers from Emily Cerankowski, to go back up by four 55-51. At 59-55, the Rangers reeled off an 8-0 run of their own with baskets from Hartnett, Kraft and four points from Cunningham. FDU continued to battle though and again rallied to tie the game at 63-63 with 4:53 left.
In a must-win game for the Rangers, the last five minutes of play showed just how tough this team has become. Though this game may not have been their best performance of the season, it was impressive nonetheless for how hard they fought.
Laura Methvin converted a Cunningham pass for a 65-63 lead. Cunningham hit a pair of free throws for a 67-63 lead, but Cerankowski scored the next four points for the fifth tie of the second half.
Tied again with 2:47 to play, Melissa Kraft drilled a huge three for a 70-67 lead. Cunningham and Kraft combined for an easy bucket as Cunningham laid it in. After a Maureen Kehoe free throw, the Devils had cut the lead to 77-72 with one minute to play. Maggie Marquis made her biggest contribution on her Senior Night by drawing the foul and hitting both free throws to give Drew a seven point advantage. Michlovsky quickly answered with a lay-up, but the Rangers calmly got the ball into Kraft’s hands and the fourth best free shooter in Division III made three straight free throws (the first two using every inch of the rim to go down). Her fourth free throw rimmed out, but Genie Valantassis’ diving rebound got the Rangers the ball back and herself a bloody nose. With the ball safe in Kraft’s hands for the final pair of free throws with ten seconds left, the Rangers secured a crucial victory.
The Rangers fate is delayed by some snow as the Delaware Valley/DeSales game was postponed until Thursday night. The Rangers still need to win a difficult game at Wilkes on Saturday and need the Aggies to lose to either DeSales or Lycoming.
In their final regular season home games, Drew’s four seniors each had outstanding games. Kraft finished with 29 points and four rebounds. Cunningham scored 25 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and handed out five assists. Marquis had six points and seven boards (to go over 300 for her career) and played all 40 minutes. Valantassis didn’t score, but she grabbed six rebounds and added some key defensive minutes off the bench for the Rangers. Junior Allison Hartnett had 16 key points and two rebounds.
Newspaper Box Score FDU-Florham vs Drew Rangers 02/13/07 6:00 pm at Drew University At Drew University DREW RANGERS 84, FDU-FLORHAM 76 FDU-FLORHAM (10-14, 4-9) Jessie Chalmers 11-21 1-1 25; Danielle Michlovsky 7-11 3-3 17; Emily Cerankowski 6-16 4-4 16; Maureen Kehoe 4-10 4-6 12; Shannon Smith 1-5 0-0 2; Courtney Young 1-4 0-0 2; Kate Daly 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 30-69 14-16 76. DREW RANGERS (12-12, 7-6) Melissa Kraft 9-24 6-8 29; Courtney Cunningham 9-20 5-6 25; Allison Hartnett 5-10 5-6 16; Laura Methvin 3-5 2-2 8; Maggie Marquis 2-6 2-2 6; Genie Valantassis 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 28-68 20-24 84. FDU-Florham................... 32 44 - 76 Drew Rangers.................. 32 52 - 84 3-point goals-FDU-Florham 2-7 (Jessie Chalmers 2-3; Maureen Kehoe 0-1; Courtney Young 0-1; Kate Daly 0-2), Drew Rangers 8-27 (Melissa Kraft 5-15; Courtney Cunningham 2-8; Allison Hartnett 1-4). Fouled out--FDU-Florham-None, Drew Rangers-None. Rebounds-FDU-Florham 38 (Danielle Michlovsky 14), Drew Rangers 37 (Courtney Cunningham 13). Assists-FDU-Florham 5 (Emily Cerankowski 2; Kate Daly 2), Drew Rangers 10 (Courtney Cunningham 5). Total fouls-FDU-Florham 15, Drew Rangers 13. A-350 Senior Night, 70s Night!