* Tuesday saw a single ECC game and a rare non-league contest dotting the slate. The report starts with the former, a close game in Valhalla...
* Roberts Wesleyan solidified fourth place in the ECC with a 75-70 win over Mercy, galvanized by a big outing from Brooke Fields (24 points) and a key run late in the game. The first half had two key sequences, an 11-0 burst (which featured a trio of three-pointers) from the Redhawks in the second quarter to give them a 30-21 lead (4:46) and an immediate 9-0 response from the Mavericks (30-30, 1:53) that was almost totally thanks to Abigail Collier (all eight of her points came in the run). RWC led 35-32 at the half and trailed only once in the second half (Mercy led 42-41 with 6:46 to play in the third frame) but it was tight. The final tie of the night was at 60 with 4:48 left but Fields snapped that with the next five points (RWC, 65-60 at 3:25). Latisha Clark (16 points, 8 rebounds) countered with the next four points (65-64, 2:12) to get Mercy back in touch but that was as close as they came. Back-to-back baskets from Taya Andrews (17 points, 8 rebounds) and Fields were followed by two free throws each from Fields and Lucy Covely (11 points, 9 caroms) to make it a 73-64 tally with 16 ticks left, ending all doubt. Emily Miller added a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) for the Redhawks, who are one game behind St. Thomas Aquinas and one game ahead of NYIT in the ECC standings. Chi-La Bady (14 points), Cynthia Perez (13 points, 6 boards) and Caralie Wilson (12 points) played well for Mercy along with Clark but they couldn't quite close the deal. Both teams feasted from behind the three-point line (RWC 12-34 3FG; Mercy 11-27 3FG), each accounting for exactly half of their respective field goal totals.
* Nyack snapped a nine-game slide with a convincing 55-37 victory over visiting Washington Adventist in non-league play. There was just one tie in the game (3-3), quickly followed by a 13-0 Warrior burst that handed them a 16-3 edge late in the first quarter and they never looked back. The Warriors won each period (18-5, 30-15 and 41-24 were the scores at each checkpoint) and locked down on defense all night, restricting the Shock (9-18) to just 23% from the field. Bryanna Brown (15 points) and Kelli Smoot (13 points) topped the Nyack scoring and they were part of a team effort that prompted sixteen more turnovers (28-12) than WAU. The Shock were paced by Candice Berner (13 points) and Courtney Jenkins (13 boards) and they did have one area of joy, rebounding (48-33), but it was nowhere near sufficient to deny Nyack the decision.