• Two ECC games pushed back a day thanks to weather filled the slate on Thursday…
• NYIT placed four players in double digits and never trailed in defeating Mercy, 78-56, securing an ECC playoff berth and keeping hopes of a top two finish alive. Ketisa Athias (18 points, 12 rebounds; 7-12 FG), Taylor Tripptree (18 points, 8 boards, 5 assists), Shalie Frierson (14 points) and Meg Knollmeyer (12 points) shared the wealth for the Bears, who posted leads of 20-7 and 38-19 at the first two checkpoints. The Mavericks stabilized in the second half but never made any sort of serious run during a twenty-minute stretch of status quo. Destinee Hall (15 points) and Taysha Bender (14 points) fronted the Mercy attack but NYIT out-shot the Mavericks (46%-33% FG) and made more three-pointers (10-4) in nailing down the victory. The Bears sit three games behind Daemen in the loss column in the league as they chase a second-place finish but NYIT does have a two-game edge on the field in consolidating third place.
• Lucy Tougas (13 points, 10 rebounds; 6-9 FG) and My’eesa Grant (12 points, 10 boards) submitted double-doubles to lead Queens to a 57-47 decision over Molloy, meaning the Knights ECC playoff hopes are still mathematically alive. The Lions, however, have been eliminated from post season contention. Queens jumped to a 17-4 lead after one frame in this one, holding Molloy to a mere 2-13 showing from the floor in the first quarter, and never once trailed. The Lions managed to gather themselves and trimmed the deficit to 29-22 by the break and kept in touch during a third period which ended with QC leading, 39-35. The Knights didn’t actually lose the lead, even though Molloy closed to within 41-38 with 7:56 to play. A 13-1 QC binge led by Beth Bonin (seven of her 12 points) was the killer blow, pushing the Knights lead to 54-39 (3:16) and ending any lingering Molloy comeback hopes. Ihnacince Grady (13 points) topped the Lions scoring but they were second-best from the field (QC, 39%-32% FG) and off the glass (44-32), consigning them to defeat.