HANSEN'S BUZZER BEATER STUNS TOP SEEDED RCSJ-GLOUCESTER AS MIDDLESEX ADVANCES TO REGION 19 SEMIS

Courtney Hansen corralled a rebound with 1.6 seconds left and hit a dramatic fade away jumper from the free throw line as Middlesex College Women's Basketball stunned top-seeded RCSJ-Gloucester 68-67 in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Division III Region XIX Women's Basketball Tournament.

The #8 Colts will travel to #4 Camden CC on Thursday for a semifinal matchup that starts at 5:30pm.

The win was the 250^th win of Head Coach Michel Powell's career.

Middlesex (15-15) was able to stay close to RCSJ-Gloucester (18-7) for most of the game. The Colts led the Roadrunners 18-14 after the first quarter and carried a 31-29 lead into halftime.

Gloucester came out strong in the second half, outscoring Middlesex 21-13 in the third to take a 50-44 into the fourth.

The Roadrunners extended their lead as the quarter and were up by as many as 13 points with six minutes remaining.

RCSJ-Gloucester hit a three-pointer with 4:07 left to go up 67-56, and it would be the last points the Roadrunners scored in the game as Middlesex was able to clamp down on defense.

Middlesex was still down by eight points with 2:08 left when they began their comeback.

Franchesca Derilus (Sophomore/Port St. Lucie. Florida) started the comeback when she hit a layup off a pass from Carla Seyfarth (Freshman/South Brunswick, NJ) to bring the Colts to within six with 2:10 remaining. Seyfarth converted a layup on the next possession to make the score 67-63.

Vanessa Rivas (Freshman/Perth Amboy, NJ) came up with a block on the defensive end and after a Middlesex timeout, Rivas hit a jumper to make the score 67-65 with 46 seconds left.

After Middlesex was unable to tie the game on their next possession, RCSJ-Gloucester inbounded the ball with 13 seconds remaining and advanced up the court as Middlesex was unable to foul them to stop the clock. With 9.6 seconds left, the ball caromed out of bounds off and when it was ruled Middlesex ball, a technical foul was issued when the call was contested.

That set up Middlesex for two shots plus the ball and an unlikely chance to pull the game out.

Rivas missed the first free throw but hit the second, setting up the heroics from Hansen.

Off of a timeout, Ashley Knuth (Freshman/Middlesex, NJ) inbounded the ball to Derilus at half court. Derilus beat two defenders, but her driving layup rolled off the rim. The loose ball bounced out near the free throw line where an alert Hansen grabbed it and hoisted a quick shot as the buzzer went off.

Hansen's shot hit the front of the rim with 00.3 showing on the clock and bounced in for the dramatic win, setting off a frenzied celebration for the Colts.

Middlesex had lost to RCSJ-Gloucester by 18 points less than three weeks ago and by 26 earlier in the season.

The Colts are now one of four teams still alive in the NJCAA Division III Region XIX Women's Basketball Tournament, joining Camden, #6 Passaic CC and #2 Northampton.