Patterson Seals Lynn Women’s Hoops Victory with Last Second Free Throws

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Two free throws by Chelsea Patterson with four-tenths of a second remaining gave Lynn University’s women’s basketball team a 72-71 victory over Florida Memorial.  Patterson logged her fourth career double-double with a team-high 24 points and 10 assists while Amanda Schultz topped her career-highs with 18 points and 11 rebounds.  The Fighting Knights even their record at 1-1 overall.

Madness ensued over the final 18 seconds with three lead changes and a technical foul that gave LU the game.  It all started following an inbound from under the FMU basket where Patterson found Natalie Basore on the left baseline for a wide-open jump shot to give the Blue & White a 70-69 lead.

Lynn forced two bad shots by the Lions but Venetia Ashley was fouled driving the lane with 6.4 seconds remaining.  She nailed both attempts at the line giving the Knights a last ditch attempt.  Patterson collected the inbounds pass, drove past mid-court and heaved up a prayer that fell short of the basket and off the baseline.  Fortunately for LU, a Florida Memorial bench player was caught up in the excitement and ran onto the court.

The technical call gave the Blue & White new life and Patterson sealed the deal with two shots at the charity stripe.  She finished 8-of-12 from the floor and 8-for-10 from the line while also contributing six rebounds and five steals.

Lynn led for much of the first half behind the efforts of Schultz and Basore.  Schultz scored 12 of her 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting while Basore grabbed seven of her career-best 12 rebounds during the opening stanza.

 The Knights built up a double-digit lead early in the second half when Quanisha Dixon beat the Lions full-court press with a three-quarters floor pass by Patterson.  Florida Memorial countered with a three by Sudanne Stewart but LU was able to push their advantage to 53-41 following another Dixon fast-break lay-up.

A double-figure edge quickly turned into a four-point deficit with 6:31 remaining in the contest as Florida Memorial (1-3) went on a 20-4 run.  The Lions held LU without a field goal for nearly seven minutes before Patterson went coast-to-coast on a lay-up at 5:53 to close the gap to 61-60.  Stewart came alive from behind the arc as she scored 12 of her game-high 29 points during the nearly six minute span.

Lynn shot 43.9% from the field and 69% from the free-throw line and held Florida Memorial to 34.6% shooting.  The Lions, though, hit 40.7% of their shots from downtown.  Stewart and Ashley combined to go 11-of-19 from three-point range.  Tashina Bailey tied her career-high with four blocks.

The Blue & White return to action on Friday, November 19, at 4 p.m. when they play Clayton State in the Chic-Fil-A Tip-Off Classic hosted by North Georgia.  Fans can follow the action live by logging on to www.LynnFightingKnights.com and selecting “Game Central.”