WATERBURY, Conn. –  It was a game that you had to see to believe in the Drubner Center on Saturday afternoon for Post University Women's Basketball. Trailing by as many as 19 points in the second half against Jefferson University, the Eagles looked down and out for the count, headed for their third straight conference loss. But an epic second-half comeback, in which they outscored the Rams by 17 points, Post forced overtime, which turned into a historic Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference bout that lasted a program-record four overtimes, as the Eagles came away with a wild 104-99 quadruple overtime victory against Jefferson.

While being the longest game in program history, it also marked the first time in 24 tries that Post defeated Jefferson in program history, as they have now officially beaten every conference opponent in their all-time existence. Before today, Post University had never gone past one overtime in the history of the program, and it now stands as the longest game in the history of CACC Women's Basketball, while tying for the longest in Division II East Region Women's Basketball history with a quadruple overtime affair on January 28, 2009 between Bentley University and Stonehill College that saw the Skyhawks outlast the Falcons, 87-82.

THE BASIC

Post University 104, Jefferson University 99 (4OT)

Post University (8-11, 5-8 CACC)

Jefferson University (15-7, 9-5 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Like the first quarter of the first matchup, turnovers would plague both teams as they combined for nine overall, with Post having six turnovers to only three for Jefferson. Neither side would shoot the ball particularly well either, as the Eagles were 2-for-15 (13.3%) from the field while the Rams were only 5-for-20 (25%), giving them a four-point lead, 10-6, after one.

Although the shooting would improve both teams in the second quarter with 50% performances, the turnover battle would continue to factor into the ability of the Eagles to keep pace with Jefferson. Committing 10 turnovers in the frame, it would lead to 19 points the other way for the Rams, who shot 11-for-17 (64.7%), with three makes from long range.

Despite Post shooting 6-for-11 (54.5%), those turnovers would result in Jefferson leading by as many as 19 points, 37-18, before taking a 17-point lead into the break, 37-20. Both sophomore forward Carolyn Sipprell and junior guard Emily Spratt scored 10 points each to lead the way for the Rams, going a combined 9-for-17 from the floor with six rebounds. With their 20 points overall, graduate forward Megan Landsiedel led Post with six points on 2-for-5 shooting, while junior guard Alyssa Rossignol had four points and four steals.

With 6:14 left in the third quarter, the Eagles still trailed by 19 points, 43-24, and then with 3:57 remaining in the same frame, it was still a 17-point affair, 47-30, when momentum shifted in favor of Post to close it out and continue into the fourth. It started with a jumper from sophomore forward Tiara Tyson, which kicked off a quarter-ending 10-0 run by the Eagles in which Tyson alone had six points. Now down by just seven points heading into the final 10 minutes, 47-40, the run continued, expanding to 15 consecutive points, in which Post got within two points, 47-45, with 7:33, which was the smallest margin they trailed by since it was 13-11 in the second quarter with 8:02 remaining.

Finally breaking up the run was Spratt with her two free throws, but the relentless second-half offense of the Eagles continued to punch back, as Landsiedel hit back-to-back threes around a free throw from Sipprell, giving Post their first lead of the afternoon, 51-50, with 5:29 left in regulation. That lead would expand to as many as four points as senior forward Claire Greene knocked down a three just over a minute later, 54-50.

That would be when both teams traded baskets at the end of regulation after Spratt tied the game at 54 with about three minutes left. With a total of five ties in that stretch, sophomore guard Kamryn Porter had a chance to ice the game for the Eagles after hitting a go-ahead jumper moments earlier at the 44-second mark, after being fouled with 16 seconds left on the clock. Splitting the pair of free throws would leave the door open for Spratt to drain a three while Porter's pair of jumpers at the buzzer rimmed out, leading to the first overtime with the game tied at 63.

Going blow for blow with each other, the largest lead of the first overtime would be three points in favor of Jefferson with 2:19 left on a three from freshman guard Ana Pellecchia, before a 4-0 run by Tyson and sophomore guard Jasmine Day-Cox turned the game back in Post's favor by one, 71-70. That would be when Rossignol fouled out with 53 seconds left, after scoring 17 points in 34 minutes on 8-for-14 shooting with seven steals and four rebounds, leading to Spratt's go-ahead free throws, in which Day-Cox would respond with a three that gave Post the lead back by two, 74-72, in which again Spratt would answer back with the game-tying layup with 12 seconds left. 

With Tyson's missed three with time winding down, the two sides headed to a second overtime, where it looked like Post would pull away for the victory after Tyson and Day-Cox led the Eagles on a 5-0 run that gave them a four-point edge with three minutes left. But as fate would have it, sophomore forward Gabby Recinto and Pellecchia would lead a 4-0 run of their own to tie things back up at 79 with 1:34 remaining. Yet again with the clock running down, Tyson gave Post the lead with her mid-range jumper and only 17 seconds left, but Recinto's layup in response with eight seconds to go resulted in a third overtime as Day-Cox missed the buzzer-beater three.

All squared at 81 now in the third overtime, the Rams seemed to have their foot on the necks of the Eagles, holding a six-point lead, 88-82, with just over a minute to go. Needing what seemed like a miracle, Landsiedel drained another three with 51 seconds, cutting the deficit down to three, and would go on to force a steal, but a long-range miss by Greene seemed to put the game on ice, as Pellecchia split at the free-throw line with 28 seconds, giving Jefferson the lead by four, 89-85. Sophomore forward McKensi Forde would connect on a quick layup, then force a steal a second later, but was fouled by Recinto, leading to her going to the line for two.

After splitting the free throws, Day-Cox was forced to foul freshman guard Caleigh Sperling with nine seconds left, and she would hit both free throws to bring the lead back up to three points for the Rams. With one last gasp, Post went back to old reliable in Landsiedel, hitting a corner three with five seconds remaining, tying the game at 91 and forcing a fourth overtime after Sperling's turnover. Finally putting the pedal to the metal in quadruple overtime, a three-point play by Greene, her first of two in the session, gave the Eagles the lead for good in a nearly three-hour affair.

After Greene's score, Porter would attempt to go for a steal, getting called for her fifth foul of the game, leaving her on the bench for the final 4:34 of the fourth overtime. Porter closed with only eight points, but had 10 assists and seven rebounds across her 46 minutes of playing time. With Day-Cox running the point the rest of the game, she would score five straight points as the Eagles closed in on 100 points, leading 99-93, with 3:14 left. After a few misses from both sides, Pellecchia's three threatened to give the Rams a chance to come back, but Forde's layup and a three-point play from Greene would be the dagger as Post did the improbable, winning 104-99.

Playing all 60 minutes, Spratt led Jefferson with 33 points on 12-for-32 shooting, connecting on 2-of-3 shots from three-point land, while Recinto closed with a 24-point, 16-rebound double-double in 52 minutes played, shooting 10-for-29. Recinto would not be the only double-double player for the Rams as Sipprell had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Pellecchia technically had a double-double with 23 points and 11 turnovers, as part of a 37-turnover game by the Rams. As a team, Jefferson outrebounded Post, 59-45, but the 37 turnovers led to 33 points for the Eagles, who had a program-record 26 steals.

On the Post side, Landsiedel was the team leader in points with 21 on 7-for-16 shooting, all of which came from long range, in 51 minutes, while Day-Cox closed with 20 points on 6-for-13 shooting with three big triples in 43 minutes of action. Tyson and Greene were also double-digit scorers for the Eagles with 14 points and 11 points, respectively, as the team shot 39-of-85 (45.9%) overall and an impressive 13-for-32 (40.6%) from three. However, struggles at the free-throw line saw them go just 13-for-24 (54.2%), whereas Jefferson was 20-for-26 (76.9%) from the stripe, while going 7-for-15 (46.7%) from three, and 36-for-88 (40.9%) overall.

With 104 points, it was the second-most the Eagles had ever scored in a game, while completing the circuit of beating every single CACC team at least once in the history of the program. Post had never been in a double overtime game since the beginning of their program back during the 2000-01 season, either, nor played an overtime affair against the Rams in the previous 23 losses they had to them, before the 104-99 program-record win over Jefferson today. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Megan Landsiedel led Post University with a career-high 21 points, making 7-of-16 shots all from beyond the arc -- Landsiedel's seven threes are the second-most in a single game for the history of the program behind eight from Maya Klein against Bloomfield during the 2023-24 season, while the 16 attempts are one behind TiJanae Simmons' 17 attempts against Franklin Pierce University during the 2022-23 season
• Finishing with 10 assists, Kamryn Porter was tied for second-most assists in a single game behind only Fernanda Masilla's 11 assists against Chestnut Hill on December 8th, 2012
• As a team, Post University's 104 points were the second-most in a single game behind only their 107 points against Mercy University back on February 25th, 2014
• Post University set the program record for steals in a game with 27, surpassing their February 17th, 2005 mark against Felician University, in which they had 23 steals, while the Eagles also surpassed their field goal attempts record of 84 against Mercy University back on February 25th, 2014, with 85 on Saturday
• Continuing in the team records category, Post University had the third-most single-game assists with 26, as well as tied for the third-most three-pointers made with 13 in the victory
• Shooting-wise, Post University closed the game with the second-most field goals made at 39 in the game, as well as tied for fourth in three-point attempts with 32 
• This is the first time in program history in which Post University has defeated Jefferson University, while the quadruple overtime affair is the longest game in the team's history, as well the longest game in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference history and tied for the longest in Division II East Region Women's Basketball history with a quadruple overtime affair on January 28, 2009 between Bentley University and Stonehill College that saw the Skyhawks outlast the Falcons, 87-82.

 
WHO'S NEXT
Playing a rescheduled game from December, Post University will look to avenge its 49-point road loss against Holy Family University from last weekend tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 PM in the Drubner Center.