Sutton Buzzer-Beater Pushes Women's Basketball to 10-0

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media
 
WALESKA, Ga. – A fourth-quarter comeback was capped off by a heave and a prayer that found the bottom of the net from 3-point range from Ashton Sutton off an in-bounds pass with less than a second remaining, pushing Reinhardt to 10-0 on the season with the 86-83 thrilling victory over Allen (S.C.) on Wednesday night.

The Eagles have reached double-digit victories already under first-year head coach Toby Wagoner – and improved to 7-0 inside the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) – with a lot of the triumph's weight falling on the shoulders of Amberlee Zeller, who tallied a career-best 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting and 10-for-11 from the free throw line.

Zeller's previous best was 14 points against Tennessee Wesleyan earlier this year.

"Wow, no doubt an exciting win tonight and we will take it," Wagoner said. "We are so happy for Ashton to knock down that shot with .4 seconds on the clock. What an appropriate feeling for such a great person. She deserves it because she has earned it; can't overlook the outstanding performance by the General, Amberlee. Again, so happy for the General and certainly well deserved.  She was upset with herself on Sunday for not connecting on a couple layups and spent a couple hours in the gym on Monday getting her shots up and making layups. It is never a surprise to see someone come out and take care of business when they put the time and effort into getting better. I can honestly say, we have a team that consistently gets in the gym and gets their green light shooting drills done. We didn't have our best performance tonight; I thought we seemed flat and lacked some energy or enthusiasm. Played tired and did not defend very well. I definitely do not want to make any excuses, but I hope it's just a result of having a tough weekend road trip, getting home late on Sunday and working through finals this week.  

"We are going to take tomorrow off and finish finals; get back on the court Friday. Kimberly and I will host the team on Saturday for the team Christmas party, and Monday start getting ready for the weekend road trip to Union and St. Andrews. This is a very goal-driven team and we will certainly get back to work and continue the process and get better."

The Yellow Jackets came out with pace and energy, which resulted in a strong opening run of 5-0. Reinhardt would respond over the next few minutes with a 13-1 spree of its own, but back came Allen with more offensive firepower en route to a four-point advantage after one quarter at 22-18.

Both teams continued the hard-fought league battle with an up-and-down style that played to the advantage of the road squad. The fast pace continued through the second stanza as both teams got the other on their heels on the defensive end as another 20-plus-point quarter was on the docket for each squad.

The Eagles were able to finish the opening half playing good ball after trailing by seven points on multiple occasions and get within one tally, 43-42, heading into the locker room.

The third quarter, which has primarily belonged to Reinhardt most of the year, went the way of the Yellow Jackets (20-14) as they were just 10 minutes away from a big conference upset. Now down by seven points heading into the fourth period, the Eagles put together their best effort on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball to the tune of a 30-20 stanza.

In less than two minutes of action, the hometown squad tied the score at 63 and then slid ahead of Allen, 72-63, thanks to a 16-0 spurt to begin the quarter with 5:41 remaining. The advantage wouldn't last, however, as the Yellow Jackets rebounded in a big way; and a late turnover by the Eagles gave their visitors a chance for a walk-off win with the game tied, 83-83.

Allen would come up short on a game-winning layup attempt, and a timeout was called by Reinhardt to set up what would prove-to-be the shot of the night.

In fitting fashion, Zeller had her fingerprints on both the rebound and game-clinching shot, as she called timeout to set up the play, and then executed to perfection down the sideline to hit Sutton (13 points) in stride as she swished the 3-pointer.

Bethany Headrick posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 boards. Catherine Shope joined her in double figures with 16 points and six rebounds as well.

Zeller also collected a half-dozen boards in the win.

Collectively, Reinhardt shot 42.3 percent (30-for-71) while hitting seven 3-pointers and 19-of-25 from the line. 

The rest of the month wraps up with back-to-back AAC contests on the road, beginning at Union (Ky.) on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 4 p.m.

For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram. 

For more information on Reinhardt Women's Basketball, please click here.