(Aurora, N.Y.)─ The Wells College women's basketball team rallied back from a 15 point deficit only to fall short on a last second jumper by Brittany Middleton (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks South) as the Penn. St. Abington Nittany Lions held on for the 59-57 victory over the Express in North Eastern Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon in Aurora.  The loss drops the Express to 3-19 (3-17 NEAC), while the Nittany Lions improve to 6-15 (5-13 NEAC).
 
Ashley Roser (Taberg, N.Y./Camden) finished with 26 points, including 23 points in the second half, while also tallying 13 rebounds and three steals. Kristen Ryan (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) finished with a double-double of her own, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Rachel Mattraw (Lyme Central, N.Y./Chaumont) added nine points and 10 rebounds to round-out the highlights for the Express.
 
Trish Watson (Bensalem, Pa./Conwell Egan) led the Nittany Lions with 21 points, while Samantha Frick (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) chipped in with 19 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Express controlled the boards, holding a 48-34 advantage, while finishing 15 of 18 from the line.
 
Wells came out with a 10-0 run and continued to lead (18-9) midway through the first half. The Nittany Lions climbed to within one on the heels of an 8-0 run but the Express pushed back as they would stretch their lead back to five (24-19) with 6:47 to play in the first half. Abington put together one more push at the end of the half and the result would be a 9-2 run, giving the Nittany Lions a slim 28-26 lead heading into the break.
 
The Nittany Lions continued to stay hot from the floor, stretching their lead to 15 points (51-36) with 8:22 to play. It would be all Express down the stretch as they would outscore Abington 21-8 the rest way, led by 15 points from Roser. Down 57-55 with 15 seconds to play, Kristen Ryan drew a foul, putting her on the line for two. Ryan drained both free-throws and on the inbounds play Trish Watson rushed up the floor, finding a wide open Middleton who drained a short range jumper with less than 2-second remaining as the Nittany Lions held on for the win.
 
The Express return to action tomorrow afternoon against NEAC opponent Penn. St. Berks with the game set to tip at 1 p.m. in Aurora.