ALBANY, N.Y. - The Saint Michael's College women's basketball team had a tying attempt just before the buzzer fall short of the mark on Friday, as the 10th-seeded Purple Knights narrowly fell to the No. 7 College of Saint Rose, 51-49, during a Northeast-10 Conference Tournament first-round contest in Nolan Gymnasium.

Saint Michael's, which finished the year 12-15, held its 18th opponent to 60 points or fewer, extending a school record it set earlier this month. In a season of close calls, the Purple and Gold suffered its eighth loss by six points or fewer. The Golden Knights, who defeated the Purple Knights by a combined three points in two games this winter, are 18-9 and advance to face No. 2 Southern Connecticut State University on Sunday in a quarterfinal.

Playing a little more than five miles from her hometown, junior Megan Olsen (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) paced the visitors with 15 points off of the bench, shooting 5-of-7 while grabbing five rebounds. Classmate Nicole Adach (Schenectady, N.Y./Mohonasen), another local product, had 11 points and seven boards, while senior Coreen Hennessy (Chatham, N.H./Fryeburg Academy) had eight points in her final college game. Sophomore Alexa Long (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) notched seven points, six boards and two blocks, and senior Samantha Steinmetz (Washington, Conn./Shepaug Valley) snared seven caroms off the bench.

Senior Ashley Rath (Victor, N.Y./Victor) had 16 points to lead Saint Rose, while classmate Alison McGrath (Troy, N.Y./Catholic Central) totaled 10 points and eight rebounds. Senior Ola Shajuyigbe (Albany, N.Y./Colonie) dished out six assists and scored seven points.

With Saint Michael's leading by a 46-45 count and a little more than three minutes remaining, McGrath put home a go-ahead lay-up, which started a 6-0 run that left the Purple Knights down 51-46 with less than a minute to go. Olsen responded by canning a three-pointer at 49 seconds, and Adach forced a steal with 24 seconds to go, giving the visitors an opportunity to tie or win the game. However, in the final three seconds, a Purple and Gold jumper was off the mark.

During the early portion of the opening half, the teams exchanged five leads and played through a pair of ties. Senior Caitlin Quinn (Oakdale, Conn./Montville) and Long each knocked down three-pointers to put the Purple Knights on top, 6-4, by 17:37, but Rath responded with a three-pointer 23 seconds later to cap a stretch of three lead changes in 45 seconds. Adach's bucket at 15:51 was the first two-point basket for Saint Michael's, making it 9-8, and after the Golden Knights grabbed a 12-8 edge, Olsen's three-point play completed a 6-0 run, giving the visitors a 14-12 advantage by 12:39.

Saint Rose scored the next six points, and Long's hoop broke her team's 4:45 scoreless drought at 7:53 to keep the visitors within 18-16 before the hosts stretched their lead to 27-20. Back-to-back Adach buckets made it a 27-24 game by 2:58, but the Golden Knights extended the margin to 31-25 by halftime.

The Purple Knights trailed by as many as nine points, at 38-29, by 15:59 of the second half before Hennessy netted four straight points to finish off a 7-0 run that took just 2:09 to elapse, and her team trailed only 38-36 with 13:50 remaining. After the Golden Knights pushed their lead out to 45-38, Hennessy's bucket was followed by Olsen tacking on the next four points to produce a 45-44 margin at 8:48. Neither team scored again until Adach put home a go-ahead jumper with 3:59 left, capping an 8-0 run and giving Saint Michael's its first advantage since the early portion of the first half.