ROCKFORD, Ill.- It has been a trying recent stretch for the Rockford University women's basketball team. Two of the Regents losses in their previous four games have been by a combined five points, with both of those losses coming down to the final possession. It appeared as though Saturday afternoon's game against the Edgewood College Eagles was going to be decided early on, but a late second half rally by the Regents resulted in overtime and another game that went down to the final seconds.
The Regents stayed with the Eagles for the beginning of the first half and led 14-11 five minutes into the game after Mallorie Getzelman (Boylan, Ill.) hit a three-pointer. But Edgewood went on a run over the next five minutes and pushed the score to 26-18 in its favor. Rockford struggled to stop Edgewood the rest of the half and also struggled on the offensive side of the court. The Regents found themselves down 46-33 at halftime and without much momentum to build off of. Getzelman's 11 points and Diamond Williams (Carpentersville, Ill.) 10 points carried Rockford offensively in the half.
The beginning of the second half Edgewood and Rockford went back-and-forth with Edgewood's lead not swaying much from double-digit points. With 7:35 left in the game, Katie Clark (Rock City, Ill.), who carried Rockford's offense for much of the second half, made a layup to put the score at 61-52 Edgewood. Amanda Davis (Mundelein, Ill.) followed Clark's made basket with a jump shot and then Clark made layups on back-to-back possessions to cut Edgewood's lead down to three.
The Eagles fought back and pushed their lead back to six points with 3:07 left in the game. Rockford's defense held the rest of the half and did not give up another point. Clark made two baskets down the stretch, mixed in with a layup by Tajanae Key (Glendale Heights, Ill.), including the game tying basket with 14 seconds left in regular time. The Regents forced a turnover with one second left in the game to send the game into overtime tied at 68.
Edgewood took a quick four point lead a minute into overtime and held it until 2:23 left in overtime. At 2:23 Clark made two free throw shots to put the score at 75-73. Edgewood then held the ball on offensive the next two minutes and 16 seconds. The Regents forced five missed shots but the Eagles recovered four offensive rebounds during that span. Key finally grabbed the much needed defensive rebound with seven seconds left in overtime. Freshman Casey Pettit (Rockford, Ill.) drove down the court and under the basket. She attempted a game tying layup as time expired but the ball rimmed out and Edgewood won the game 75-73.
Clark was a monster off the bench, scoring a season high 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting in just 23 minutes. She also grabbed 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Williams finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Getzelman also finished in double-digits points with 13. She added in two rebounds, four assists, and six steals. Callie Rezin (Rockford, Ill.) scored five points and handed out seven assists.
Rockford plays next on February 11 at 7:00 p.m. at Alverno. The Regents finally home game of the season and senior day is on February 17 at 7:00 p.m. against Benedictine.
