Posted: Feb 19, 2016
- Three ECC games with playoff implications highlighted Thursday’s action but we start with a pair of milestones in the CACC…
- Bria Young scored her 1,000th point and Mary Newell recorded a career-best 25 points to help Philadelphia notch a 77-62 CACC win over Georgian Court to stay one game ahead of Holy Family in the South Division race. Although the Rams led all the way, they needed an 8-0 fourth period run, led by Young (seven of her 17 points in that span), to craft a 69-55 lead with 4:33 to go. That proved to be enough to repel the Lions for good and allowed the Rams to reach the 20-win plateau for the third straight season. Young, Newell (12-22 FG, 12 boards), Tori Arnao (17 points, 15 boards) and Jessica Kaminski (10 points) supplied the bulk of the Philadelphia points as they pulled in fourteen more rebounds (50-36) and posted a solid 21/12 assist/turnover ratio. Alliyah Berger (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Jada Atchison (18 points) topped the GCU attack as they also used the ball well (18/14 assist/turnover line) but still fell short.
- A 14-0 third period run put the University of the District of Columbia ahead to stay against Mercy and they went on to pick up a 74-65 win to remain in second place in the ECC. The Firebirds trailed 43-39 with 6:38 to go in the third period but conjured their key burst to go ahead 53-43 just before the close of the frame. The Mavericks battled back and closed the gap to 66-63 with 2:03 to go in the game but UDC finished them off with an 8-0 flurry. Five Firebirds scored between 11-14 points with Tatyana Calhoun (14 points, 14 rebounds) at the head of the queue. A major rebound advantage (64-31, including 37-9 in offensive caroms) boosted UDC and helped them overcome drab shooting (31% FG, 5-24 3FG). Chi-La Bady (23 points) was one of three Mavericks in double figures as they shot 39% overall but dropped their eighth game in succession.
- Speaking of huge rebound differentials, Queens totally dominated that area against Dowling (60-21; 34-1 in offensive boards) to fuel a coast-to-coast 79-41 ECC victory. The Knights scored the first sixteen points of the game and rolled past the Golden Lions, particularly ruling the first (21-5) and third (29-4) quarters on the scoreboard. Madison Rowland (31 points, 6 boards, 5 steals) and MacKenzie Rowland (17 points; career-high 21 rebounds, 16 of them offensive) led the QC effort while Krstina Surlan (20 points, 7 caroms) carried the flag for DC. Among the other categories that Queens flourished was at the line, where they went 19-30 while Dowling was just 6-8. The Knights have won three in a row and sit in fourth place in the ECC but are only two games out of second place.
- The best game of the night was in Rockville Centre, where Molloy parlayed a big fourth quarter into a critical ECC win over Bridgeport, 67-52. This one was close for three periods with the Purple Knights holding a 49-48 lead going into the final frame. They browned out once there, though, going just 1-17 from the floor with eight turnovers, allowing the Lions to sprint away. Molloy scored the first 18 points of the fourth quarter to take the sting out of the contest and complete the victory. Kimani Jackson (24 points, 6 boards) shone for the Lions with Alexia O’Connor (14 points) among three other double digit scorers. Evelyn Ovner (15 points) and Louise Ovner (11 boards) were the top stat-gatherers for UB, which did collect a dozen more rebounds (49-37). The turnover count was a big plus for Molloy as they forced twice as many as they committed (24-12) and turned it into a 27-11 edge in points-off-mistakes. Molloy and St. Thomas Aquinas hold the final ECC playoff spots with Bridgeport and Daemen just a game behind in the loss column.