The fourth-quarter rally that carried Benet to a 47-42 road win Saturday over Providence was a matter of all hands on deck for the Redwings.
Trailing 37-32 early in the final period, Benet clamped down defensively while several players chipped in at the other end to get the East Suburban Catholic victory.
“We’ve been specifically working on our defense really hard the past few weeks,’’ forward Emily Schramek said. “We played so well down the stretch.’’
Jumpers by Benet’s Kathleen Doyle and Morgan Thomalla made it 37-all midway through the final quarter. A steal by Jenna Martin followed by Schramek’s transition layup put Benet ahead 39-37 with 3:25 left.
The teams traded three-pointers — Thomalla for Benet and Alyssa Jurges for Providence — to keep the outcome in doubt with 2:11 to play.
Then it was Emily Eshoo who stepped up for Benet. Her driving layup for a 44-40 lead with 1:30 left proved to be the winning points and came after the Redwings worked the ball around looking for an opening.
“What’s so different from last year is this year we all know we all can step up,’’ Schramek said. “We don’t have to look for one player.’’
The 6-foot Schramek scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. Eshoo finished with 11 points and Doyle contributed nine points and six rebounds for Benet (15-8, 3-4).
“You’ve got to guard them all. They can all shoot the basketball,’’ Providence coach Eileen Copenhaver said.
Providence led 25-23 at halftime, Benet rallied to go ahead 30-25 and Providence responded with a 12-2 streak.
“We were right there. We just didn’t close it out,’’ Copenhaver said.
“They went ahead, we went ahead, nip and tuck all the way,’’ Benet coach Peter Paul said. “It was a great game to coach, a great game to be in.’’
Jurges, a junior, led Providence (15-11, 3-3) with 15 points, adding to her 1,000-plus career points. Mary Fashingbauer and Maeve Garvey each had nine points for the Celtics.
“They played tight on me,’’ Jurges said. “Emily (Eshoo) did a good job against me. It’s a fun game when you have defenders who play hard.’’
“We really focused on getting stops on defense,’’ Doyle said. “We knew were in the bonus early in the fourth quarter. We just made sure we were taking care of the ball.’’
