NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Senior guard Damika Martinez scored a season-high 41 points in the Iona College women's basketball team's 85-81 overtime loss to Rider Sunday afternoon at the Hynes Athletics Center. The setback pushed the Gaels' mark to 9-8 overall, and 6-2 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.
Martinez went 13-for-25 from the field, and 14-for-16 from the charity stripe to record her third career 40-point effort. Junior forward Joy Adams scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season, while sophomore guard Marina Lizarazu scored 13 points and dished out seven assists. Adams has now grabbed 992 career boards, and is eight shy of becoming the third player in program history to reach the 1,000 rebound mark.
The contest included 21 ties and 17 lead changes, as both teams shot over 49.0% from the field. Late in the first half, the Gaels took a 38-36 lead on a pair of free throws by Martinez before a layup by Marritta Gillcrease with six seconds remaining evened the score heading to halftime.
With the scored tied at 48 with 14:16 left in the second half, Rider held the lead for almost seven minutes before a 5-0 run by Iona evened the contest at 58 with 7:49 remaining.
Iona had the lead on five separate occasions in the final 5:42 of the period, but the the Broncs were able to answer back each time. With the game knotted at 68, Martinez gave Iona a two-point lead on a layup with 46 seconds remaining.
Rider's Robin Perkins drew a foul with 27 seconds on the clock and knocked down a pair from the line to even the score once again.
Martinez had one final chance in the closing seconds of the frame to score the game-winner but a runner on the baseline was called off after an offensive foul was called.
In the extra frame, Perkins put a layup in off the tipoff, as the Broncs never trailed in overtime. After a Martinez layup evened the game at 74, back-to-back layups by Marritta Gillcrease and Manon Pellet gave Rider the lead for good.
A three by Perkins gave the Broncs a five point advantage, 81-76, before Perkins clinced the game with a jumper with 1:09 left in overtime. Rider went a perfect 7-for-7 from the field in the extra five minutes.
Perkins scored a team-high 27 points for the Broncs, including 11 in overtime, while Julia Duggan recorded 20 points and eight rebounds. Iona makes its annual trip to Western New York next weekend, beginning Friday evening at Niagara (7:00 pm).
