* It was the ECC’s turn to cut their tournament field down to four on Wednesday, with the higher seeds prevailing in first round action – but in far different manners. The recap starts with a thriller in Old Westbury…
* Shalie Frierson’s basket in the lane with 4.2 seconds left was enough to send #3 seed New York Tech to a 61-59 victory over #6 seed Bridgeport. The Bears barely avoided the upset bid of the stubborn Purple Knights by rallying from a 12-point deficit entering the last period, and by netting the final ten points of the contest. NY Tech held a 32-30 lead following a first half that saw the teams never separated by more than five points. The match was even at 40 with 6:01 remaining in the third period after a Ketsia Athias (8 points, 13 boards) hoop for the Bears but Bridgeport rattled off a 13-1 spree to end the frame on top, 53-41, with Janiece Loney (13 points) and Gracen Kerr (12 points) scoring all of their points (Loney had eight). The third quarter was all UB, as they shot 9-14 overall (4-6 from 3FG-land) and held the Bears to 3-18 shooting (including 1-12 from long range). The Bears quickly righted the ship once the fourth quarter began, going on a 10-0 tear to close within 53-51 (7:19). UB answered with a 6-0 spell, their only scoring of the period, and led 59-51 with 3:55 left. Zoe Amalbert (14 points; 4-10 3FG) began the final push for New York Tech with a trey and when Haley Dalonzo came up with a three-point play with 45 seconds left, the game was even at 59. Samirah Henderson’s shot on UB’s next trip was rejected by Meg Knollmeyer (9 points, 10 boards) with :12 left and Frierson’s score in traffic put the Bears ahead to stay. Knollmeyer denied the Purple Knights a last shot by dislodging the ball from Kerr in the frontcourt and NY Tech had the win, their seventh in a row and twentieth of the campaign. Corinn Baggs added 11 points and seven boards for the Bears, who will face Daemen in the ECC semifinals on Saturday. Alyzae Davis (13 points) led the UB attack, which out-shot the Bears (43%-37%) but lost the glass, 37-26, in their final outing of the campaign.
* #4 seed Molloy rode a 23-0 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters to drop #5 seed Roberts Wesleyan and book a semifinal date with top seed St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday. The game was virtually dead even until the killer burst from the Lions, with the Redhawks leading 27-26 at the half. Emily Miller’s (13 points, 14 rebounds) trey with 3:48 left in the third quarter pulled RWC within 34-33 but they went almost nine minutes (8:48 to be exact) without a point after that. Meanwhile, Molloy netted the last dozen points of the third period (47-33) and the first eleven of the last stanza to make it a 57-33 rout with 6:06 left. Marthe Guirand (16 points, 8 caroms) and the active Kadijah Dickson (15 poiints, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals) led the way for the Lions (and combined for 13 of the 23 markers in the vital span), who shot better than the Redhawks (44%-33% FG) and ruled the glass by a 41-29 count. Roberts Wesleyan ends the season on a three-game downturn while Molloy rolls into the semifinals with a seven-game win skein.
* The last NCAA Division II East Regional poll prior to the unveiling of the tournament field on Sunday was released on Wednesday with the top three teams (Adelphi, Stonehill and Sciences) staying the same. St. Anselm moved up one spot to #4, Le Moyne rose three places to #5 and Bentley dropped two notches to #6. St. Thomas Aquinas remained at #7 and Pace stayed at #10 while Molloy (up one to #8) and Daemen (down three to #9) moved in opposite directions.