SELINSGROVE, PA - Tied at 52 with Susquehanna holding final possession, it took a couple of timeouts for SU's women's basketball team to work out a game-winning play to defeat Drew on Saturday in the regular season finale. The ball was given to Julia Pinckert at the top, who was eyeing potentially Zoie Maffei down low. With time running out, Pinckert moved to her left and fired a rainbow shot, which found its way into the bottom of the net as zeroes showed on the clock in a dramatic 55-52 win. Susquehanna (15-10, 12-6 Landmark) earned a season sweep over Drew (14-11, 9-9 Landmark), with both sides rematching back in Selinsgrove Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. in the Landmark Conference Quarterfinals in the fourth-and-fifth seeded matchup.

The ending of the game capped off a memorable Senior Day celebration for Susquehanna Women's Basketball as head coach Gabby Holko and the team recognized seniors Kenzie Selvaggi, Grace Meehan, and Brianna Dorsey prior to the contest. All three started the game and contributed to the win, with Selvaggi and Meehan offering up four points, while Dorsey connected on one field goal in a two-point, three rebound day. Selvaggi added seven rebounds and Meehan three as Susquehanna finished with a 49-33 lead over Drew in the rebounding department. 

Pinckert's game-winner was one of only two threes Susquehanna made on the day, with the other belonging to Annie Greek in a five-point afternoon. Pinckert led the team with 13 points to go with eight rebounds, shooting 5-of-8 from the field. Carly George was next up on the scoring board for Susquehanna as she grabbed seven rebounds in the process. Saturday's game was a challenging one on both sides when it came to shooting, as the River Hawks finished at 39.7 percent (23-of-58) with a 2-for-14 shooting from long range. Drew, meanwhile, fared 28.6 percent at 18-of-63, including 5-of-22 on threes. Ranger Alice Altomare made four of these threes as she led all scorers with 15 points. 

It appeared the River Hawks had an early grip on the game, especially when they held a 12-point lead in the second quarter at 21-9. The Rangers found some rhythm to get back in the game, aided by a couple of threes and free throw shooting to cut SU's lead to 27-23 at halftime. By the end of the third quarter Drew took a 40-39 lead into the fourth after Jocelyn Kingsley made a layup in the closing seconds. Both sides duked it out throughout the fourth quarter as either side could only skirmish no more than a one-possession lead. Kingsley again offered the Rangers some go-ahead magic with a basket for a 52-50 lead with two-and-a-half minutes remaining. The score stayed the same for the next two minutes before the River Hawks seized on a Drew turnover, where Meehan found Maffei in the paint for a game-tying layup with 24 seconds left. On Drew's ensuing drive Amy Rachilla's layup attempt was blocked away by Lauren Klein, then another layup attempt by Miabella Diaz was grabbed by Maffei with 6.6 seconds left, quickly calling a timeout. Advancing the ball after the timeout, inbounder Pinckert called another timeout to regroup. It proved to be the right decision as Pinckert inbounded to Klein, who gave it back to the junior who evaded Kingsley and lined up the game-winner that rattled in. 

Susquehanna had already clinched the fourth seed after Wednesday's victory over Juniata, but the big win Saturday gave the River Hawks the distinction of another 12-win season in Landmark play, tied with last year's total for the most conference wins in school history. History will also repeat itself as they will play the Rangers in the quarterfinals for the second straight year. Susquehanna defeated Drew last year in the opening round, 75-52, while posting a season sweep of the Rangers this year after winning in Madison, N.J. back on Jan. 8, 75-64. The River Hawks have won the last six meetings with the Rangers dating back to Jan. 3, 2024. The winner Tuesday will advance to Thursday's Landmark Semifinals at one-seeded and third-ranked Scranton at 7 p.m. Tuesday night will be the three-six quarterfinals matchup between Goucher at Catholic, with the winner advancing to play two-seed Elizabethtown Thursday at 7 p.m. From there the league championship will be Saturday, Mar. 1 at the highest remaining seed.