HINESBURG — Down seven points late in the third quarter,  the CVU Redhawks finished the game on a 24-8 run,  remaining   undefeated with a 59-50 victory over the the Rice Green Knights in Northfield Savings Bank Rivalry Series action on Monday night inside the CVU Gym.

The Redhawks roared out of the gate in the first quarter, riding the shooting of Nicole Eaton and Harper Mead to a quick 16-6 lead. But Rice regrouped and behind the hot shooting of senior Lisa Sulejmani (13 first half points) closed to within two at 26-24 with 3:42 left in the half.

But then everything suddenly stopped. With play underway, Rice Coach Tim Rice collapsed on the Green Knights bench. Coach Rice, who survived a cardiac incident on the bench two years ago, was down for several minutes as a near capacity crowd sat in silence. But thankfully, after getting checked on by EMT’s, he was able to get to his feet and walk out of the gym under his own power. He was taken for further evaluation.

After about a 20 minute delay both teams decided to continue the game and the Green Knights closed to with a point 33-32 at the break. Perhaps playing even harder for their fallen Coach, the Knights turned up an aggressive pressure defense to begin the third quarter. Led by freshman Fiona Connolly they forced the Redhawks into several turnovers and opened up a seven point lead.

But it was CVU that had a last run in them. After having been outscored 10-5 in the third quarter, the Redhawks turned the tables, outscoring Rice 21-8 over the final eight minutes. Mead scored 12 of the 21 points and Meghan Gilwee added six and the undefeated Redhawks rolled on to the win.

Mead led all scorers with 21 points for CVU. Shannon Loiseau added 10, while Gilwee chipped in 8. Sulejmani led Rice with 17, while Lizzy Lyman turned a strong effort, scoring 13.

CVU improves to 13-0. Rice slips to 11-3.