Posted: Feb 17, 2016
- The ECC was in the spotlight on Tuesday with four games (the Roberts Wesleyan at Daemen game was postponed to Wednesday due to weather issues) ripe with playoff implications…
- NYIT edged a little closer to securing the ECC crown with a hard-earned win in the Battle of the Boulevard, beating LIU Post, 74-67. A 10-2 spree in the fourth quarter gave the Bears the lead for good (65-59 with 2:54 left) and they closed the game out by sinking 9-10 at the foul line down the stretch. NYIT ruled the first period (21-8) but the host Pioneers fought back to tie it at 35 late in the first half. An Audrey Knowlton (12 points) trey put the Bears ahead at the half (38-35) and they held onto it for the entire third period, with the exception of one brief tie. LIU Post tore out of the gate in the last frame with the first eight points to assume a lead (57-55) that didn’t last long. The aforementioned 10-2 run put NYIT ahead to stay and got them back into the win column. Dina Ragab (19 points, 6 boards) and Nina Vukosavljevic (15 points, 9-9 FT) led the scoring for the Bears, which shot 47% and drilled 26-35 at the stripe. Nyasia Davis (19 points, 8-11 FG) and Shannon Doyle (16 points) topped the Pioneer effort, with help from Melsha Messam (11 points, 8 rebounds). LIU Post, nearly out of the ECC playoff picture, shot 40% overall and hit 18-27 at the line as a unit. NYIT’s lead at the top is two games over UDC in the loss column.
- Queens overcame a tough start and rode the Rowland sisters to a 57-49 victory over Molloy, all but locking up an ECC playoff berth. Madison (23 points, 13 boards, 4 steals), Merrick (10 points) and MacKenzie (7 points, 18 rebounds) Rowland combined for the bulk of the Knights scoring and helped them recover from a poor first quarter that saw the Lions race to a 17-5 lead. QC managed to trim the deficit to 29-25 by the half and used a key 11-0 spurt in the third quarter to go ahead for keeps (39-31, 4:08). Molloy, fighting for a playoff spot, crawled to within four points in the fourth period (46-42, 6:21) but the bottom dropped out on them thanks to a 10-2 QC blitz that salted the game away. Kimani Jackson (17 points, 7 boards), Ally Leftridge and Aliyah McDonald (10 points each) topped the Lions scoring. Neither team shot well (Molloy 37%, Queens 28%) but the Knights had the upper hand on the glass (50-39), in turnovers (19-11) and at the foul line (16-23; Molloy 5-7 FT), aiding their cause. Queens is in fourth place at the moment, a half-game behind Roberts Wesleyan while Molloy is one of four teams with nine league losses battling for the final two playoff spots.
- One of the teams with nine ECC losses is St. Thomas Aquinas, which annexed its eighth win last night, a 71-53 decision over now-eliminated Mercy. Jenna Erickson (20 points, 5-12 3FG), Alex Bertolino (17 points) and Alyson Brennan (10 points, 11 caroms) topped the ticket for the Spartans, who took control at the end of the first half, an 8-0 burst placing them ahead, 29-16. The Mavericks never got the deficit back into single digits despite good outings from Paxton Reddington (16 points), Chi-La Bady (11 points, 6 assists), Deasia Goodson and Monet Keane-Dawes (11 boards each). STAC was superior on the glass (46-38) and much better with the ball (19/10 assist/turnover line as opposed to Mercy’s 12/22 totals), negating slightly more accurate shooting across the board for the Mavericks. With the win the Spartans sit in fifth place in the ECC, just ahead of Molloy.
- Bridgeport rallied for a vital win over Dowling, 58-54, ending a three-game slide and injecting themselves right back into the ECC playoff race. The Golden Lions led 30-24 at the break and widened the margin to 42-33 after three periods; they still held that gap (46-37) with 7:24 to go and seemed in good shape. But the Purple Knights, spearheaded by Kadijah Dickson (eight of her 17 points; she also had 15 rebounds and 5 assists), launched a 13-0 bomb to go ahead less than five minutes later, 50-46 (2:49). DC stayed in range and came within 56-54 thanks to a Julia Winnik (9 points) trey with :39 left. Briana Stoddard (12 points) made a pair of free throws with 13 ticks left and after a Dowling miss, Louise Ovner scored her only point at the line (she did haul in 10 rebounds, though) to wrap it up for UB. Evelyn Ovner (17 points, 10 caroms) was also vital for the Purple Knights as they dominated the boards (53-31; 26-9 in offensive caroms), balancing off subpar shooting (29% FG). Krstina Surlan (15 points) and Kayla Hill (10 points) led the Golden Lions, who shot 36% overall but couldn’t avoid their fourteenth straight loss. Bridgeport is part of the nine-loss brigade in the ECC but they, along with Daemen, have five games left and will surely shape the outcome of the playoff places.
- The respective Division II national polls were released yesterday, with Bentley (receiving votes) the only East team to get mentioned in the WBCA/USA Today Sports poll. In the D2SIDA poll, AIC (#17), Bentley (tied for #18) and Roberts Wesleyan (tied for #25) all were mentioned. The official NCAA East Regional rankings will be released for the first time this season later today.