• Tuesday was the first night comprised of purely conference games in the region, six in the CACC and three in the NE10. The report starts in the CACC North, where two clubs annexed their first victories of the season…
• Alessia Smaldone had a career game (32 points, 9 boards, 8 assists; 13-16 FT) in leading Caldwell to their initial win of the year, a 77-68 CACC North decision over Concordia. Tina Lebron (20 points) and Paula Dits (11 points, 11 rebounds) lent depth for the Cougars, who started the game with an 11-1 run and kept the Clippers at bay the rest of the way. Caldwell led 44-33 at the half and 62-55 after three periods, allowing Concordia as close as four points in the second half yet remaining ahead. Amiyna Rankins (24 points, matching her personal-high) and Sabrina Clement (12 points) led the Concordia attack which, despite being out-shot 47-35%, stayed in range for forty minutes… Felician also entered the win column, posting a 67-61 triumph over Nyack thanks in large part to a 19-1 fourth period blitz that turned the game on its head. The Warriors led 47-38 after three frames and extended their edge to 54-40 with 7:58 to go, only to see the Golden Falcons take flight. The 19-1 surge gave Felician a 59-55 lead with 3:32 on the clock but Nyack scored the next four points to knot it at 59 with 2:22 left. Shaelee Brown’s three-pointer and a Kayla Diaz (16 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds) basket snapped the tie for good, though, putting Felician ahead to stay, 64-59 (:57). Kameron Stone (15 points, 15 boards) double-doubled to help the Golden Falcons cause as they ended up scoring 29 fourth period points. Janae Bailey (16 points) and Yamilas Villegas (15 points) were the pick of the lot for Nyack… Dominican slipped past Post, 71-66, coming back to succeed in a statistically odd contest. The Chargers doubled up the Eagles in free throw attempts (42-21) and sank 33 of their tries, accounting for virtually half of their scoring. Post, meantime, totally dominated the glass, collecting 29 more rebounds (53-24) but failing to prevail despite the advantage. The game was tight (seven ties and five lead changes), with the Eagles leading at the interval (28-27) and after three quarters (50-44). DC tied it at 52 and 59 before finally going ahead to stay via a 7-0 run (66-61, :24), five of the points from the line (appropriately). Eleven of the last thirteen Charger points came at the stripe, in fact. Korina Guerra (19 points, 11-13 FT) and Kyla Ramseur (14 points, 5-7 FT) topped four double figure DC scorers while Taylor Ceballos (16 points, 8 boards) and Sha’Raya Haines (15 points) led the Eagles offense.
• Although the top two teams in the CACC South both won, the major story there was that Georgian Court won their first game of the year, and impressive 88-84 comeback victory over Goldey-Beacom. The Lions timed their decisive run perfectly, putting together a 14-1 spree to close the game and flip what was an 83-74 Lighting lead (3:22) around. GCU did lead at the half (44-39) but GBC ruled the third period (31-16) to go ahead, 70-60, into the last ten minutes. The Lions stayed close enough thereafter to make their final run count. Destiny Thompson (16 points) scored six points in a row to tie matters at 84 (:57) and Nerea Brajac (17 points) put GCU ahead for good with a bucket at the :21 mark. After a Lighting miss, Safiyyah Lee (9 points, 14 rebounds) tacked on a pair of free throws to ice it with seven seconds left. Jada Atchison (26 points; 10-14 FG, 3-4 3FG) was the top scorer for the balanced Lions while Amanda McGrogan (23 points), Alanna Speaks (14 points) and Tanner Turner-Rush (13 points, 10 boards) marshalled the Lightning on an evening that saw eight ties and fourteen lead changes. GCU shot a blazing 60.7% from the field (34-56 FG) and held GBC to 38%, negating the Lightning’s superior three-point shooting (11-3)… Jefferson placed all five starters in double digits as they rubbed out Wilmington, 83-58, in a game that pitted an unbeaten team against a winless team with a predictable outcome. Caitlyn Cunningham (19 points, 4-9 3FG), Erin Maher (14 points, 4-7 3FG) and Alanna Williams (14 points) topped the ticket for the Rams, who led from start-to-finish and almost tripled the Wildcats in three-pointers (11-4). Jadyn Whitsitt (17 points) and Nyree Grant (13 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists) paced the Wildcats, who were within striking distance at the half, trailing by eleven points (45-34). Jefferson doubled the margin over the next ten minutes (69-47) however, to make certain of the result and join Bentley at 8-0… The University of the Sciences pulled away from local rival Holy Family in the second half to record a 63-39 victory and improve to 7-0. The Devils led 26-20 at intermission but, thanks to an imbedded 18-2 run, made it a more comfortable game after three periods, 46-26. Jordan Vitelli (17 points) and Irisa Ye (16 points) helmed the Sciences attack, one that feasted on turnovers (HFU had 21, Sciences just 10) to the tune of 24-8 in points-off-TO’s. The Devils also got to the line more often (10-15; HFU 2-4 FT) and won all four quarters. Elizabeth Radley’s 14 points led the Tigers attack but couldn’t prevent their third loss in a row.
• Shannon Ryan (20 points, 13 caroms; 9-13 FG) and Grace Guachione (17 points) sparked St. Anselm to an 82-59 win at St. Michael’s, running their winning streak to four and taking over sole possession of second place in the NE10 Northeast. Emma Daly added 12 points for the Hawks, who had the upper hand in a variety of areas including rebounds (49-35) and paint points (48-24). St. A’s closed the first half on an 18-5 burst to claim a 42-27 lead and stretched it to 65-42 after three frames, leaving the Purple Knights with no chance to recover. Nicole Anderson (16 points) and Emily Ferreri (14 points, 7 assists) played well for SMC, although they have now dropped three on the trot… In the jumbled NE10 Southwest, AIC waxed Southern Connecticut, 71-49, behind big games from Dana Watts (24 points, 17 rebounds; 8-12 FG, 2-3 3FG, 6-6 FT), Alyssa Guyon (22 points) and Dominque Boyd (15 points). All of the Yellow Jackets scoring actually came from their starters but it was more than sufficient to get the job done. AIC led all the way (26-15 at the half, 41-29 after three quarters), ruling the glass (49-32) along the way. Kiana Steinauer (18 points, 13 boards) and Amanda Pfohl (10 points) led the SCSU effort but the Owls have lost three in a row after a 5-0 start… New Haven shed Pace, 65-55, in West Haven, with Alexandria Kerr (17 points) and Micah Womack (13 points) showing the way in another Southwest tilt. The Chargers shot a crisp 54% on the night while going just 1-2 from three-point land. At the other end, the Setters shot almost 62% inside the arc (21-34 2FG) but were a calamitous 0-18 from long range, dooming their chances. UNH led what was mainly a close contest after three periods, 48-43, but used 5-0 and 8-0 fourth quarter runs to help create some elbow room and fend off any Pace comeback hopes. Alexandra Monteleone (19 points) and Jackie Dellisanti (18 points) supplied the pop for the Setters.