BOSTON, Mass. – A down-to-the-wire brutal game awaited the Emerson Women's Basketball team Thursday night as they took on GNAC rivals, Rivier in a nailbiter that saw the Raiders just barely edge the Lions 78-72 in overtime for the win. Shannon Norton was phenomenal for Emerson with 20 points on the night and five threes, but the effort fell short as EC drops to 7-12 on the year and 4-3 in the conference while Rivier moves to 11-6 overall and 5-1 in the GNAC.

The first half saw some sharp shooting from Shannon Norton who lit up the boards with three threes for nine points to kick-off the Emerson rally while teammate Kristin Brice started off slow then started to dominate the paint on the Raiders as she finished the half with 11 points to lead the Lions.

The Raiders were scrappy though as Deanna Purcell fed off her sisters four assists while putting up 17 points to single-handedly keep the Raiders in the game. RC played some tight defense as well forcing six turnovers, but EC bested them there as well, forcing seven while outrebounding the Raiders 23 to 17 to head into half up by ten, 33-23.

The second half saw some fire in the Raiders though as Deanna Purcell cranked it up a notch to drop11 more points to her tally, while her lightning-quick teammate Ryan Baker put up 12 as they came out to play physical against the Lions to throw them for a loop as EC committed 13 fouls in the half.

The Raiders took full advantage as well, hitting 67% from the free throw line for 12 more points. Olivia DiNucci tried to get the ball rolling on offense with nine points while Norton dropped in eight herself. The change in tide had been set in motion though as Rivier scrapped back into the game to tie 64-64 by the end of regulation.

In overtime Deanna Purcell took an easy basket to start the see saw of points for each team that would be the story of the final period. Then a jumper by Erin Sweeney coupled with a Shannon Norton foul would spell the beginning of the end as Rivier took a 73-70 lead which Emerson never recovered from as they played the foul game until the end of overtime with Rivier taking the win, 78-72.

The Lions will travel up to Norwich this Saturday to continue their GNAC season against the Cadets with a 1:00 p.m. game in Vermont.