Girls Basketball Knocks Off Rival Natick in Overtime

January 23, 2026

• Needham snapped a two game skid in the win over Natick.

In a spectacular Friday night matchup of Bay State Conference rivals Friday night, the Needham Girls Varsity Basketball defeated Natick 47-40 in overtime at the A Gym. The Rockets, ranked #3 in the MIAA Division 1 Power Rankings, ended a two game skid after dropping back to back games to #2 Bishop Feehan the last two Wednesdays.

Needham was able to get Senior Captains Hannah Levine and Noa Richman back from illness after both missed the second game against Feehan two nights earlier. Levine, although less than 100%, hit a three pointer in each of the first two quarters, then added four more points in overtime, finishing with ten points.

Another Senior Captain, Eva Andrews, dominated the boards, grabbing sixteen rebounds in addition to twelve points, seven blocks and three steals. Junior Aislin Flaherty also finished in double figures, with eleven points.

The Redhawks, ranked #6 in the MIAA D1 Power Rankings, had an eight game win streak snapped Friday, January 9th in a 79-76 home loss to Braintree and had won two in a row until Friday. They had been led by Sophomore sensation Kayla Dunlap, who’s been a scoring machine, including a 31 point performance in the loss to Braintree. But Needham held her in check, only scoring six and holding her without a field goal in the second half and overtime.

Natick came out of the gate strong, taking an 18-10 lead after the first quarter, with a balanced attack featuring five points by Junior Captain Bridget Pole and four each for Junior Denai Williams and Senior Captain Katie McMahon. Andrews led the Rockets with four points at the end of the first.

Needham battled back in the second, outscoring the Redhawks 11-4 in the quarter, to pull within one, 22-21 at halftime after Freshman Emily Jones hit a three. Jones, Andrews and Levine each scored three points in the second to lead the Rockets, with Andrews totaling seven in the half.

Natick regained control in the third quarter, hitting a trio of three pointers, two by Pole and another by Sophomore CC Curran. They took the quarter 11-6 to take a 33-28 lead to the final quarter.

But the Rockets hit a pair of threes of their own, by Flaherty and Junior Lacey Williams and Andrews added three more as Needham outscored Natick 11-6 in the quarter. Senior Captain Dani Deroian hit a layup with about 1:40 left to make it 39-37, then tied it at 39 as Levine found Andrews wide open off the glass to tie with 21 seconds left.

After Natick took a timeout with nine seconds left, Denai Williams missed a drive and they were headed to overtime. The Rockets scored quickly in the extra period, as Andrews won the tip, Flaherty controlled it to Levine, who scored a quick field goal, the only one in overtime for either team.

Needham took over at the free throw line, with Deroian hitting four freebies and Levine hitting two. The Rockets outscored Natick 8-1 in the extra period, with a free throw by McMahon the only point the Redhawks could muster.

Up next for the Rockets (10-2) is another home game, Tuesday, January 27th at Milton with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m., a game that will be recorded by The Needham Channel to air Wednesday. Natick (10-2), who started a four game road trip in Needham, will next travel to Brookline on Tuesday, with their tip-off scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

You can check out highlights from our broadcast here, courtesy of our TNC Instagram:

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