Purcell sisters shine again as Rivier earned a win over William Smith

(Thousand Oaks, CA) Senior Amandra Purcell's (Hudson, NH) jumper with nine seconds left lifted the Rivier College Women's Basketball team to a thrilling 66-64 victory over William Smith College in the 2011 Best Western Posada Royale Classic.

It was a classic back-and-forth battle as the teams were tied at six different points in the game. Rivier (7-4 overall) found themselves trailing by three with about 1:38 remaining before freshman Deanna Purcell (Hudson, NH) buried four consecutive free throws to knot the game at 64. After a missed layup by William Smith, sophomore Jaclyn Penniman (Dudley, MA) was able to get a huge rebound to give the Raiders a chance to win the game. It was Penniman's 11th rebound of the game – a team high.

The Raiders overcame a 36-28 halftime deficit as they outscored William Smith, 38-28 in the second half. Deanna Purcell was the driving force as she scored 15 of her team high 23 points in the second half, including going 7-for-9 from the line. Older sister Amandra finished with 16 points in the game while sophomore Ryan Baker (Whitinsville, MA) registered 8 points. For their efforts, the Purcell sisters were named to the All-Classic team.

The Raiders will head back to the east coast as they prepare for the 2012 portion of the schedule. Next up is cross-town foe Daniel Webster College. The two Nashua Colleges will square off on January 5th at DWC. Game time is set for 5:30 pm.