Stevens and Naz Win Big; Ithaca Falls by Two
Stevens 64, Cairn 32 (
Box Score)
The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team improved to 7-3 on the season with a 64-32 road win at Cairn University on Wednesday evening in Langhorne Manor, Pa. Seventeen players saw action for Stevens in its largest margin of victory so far this year.
The Ducks held Cairn (0-7) to 16 points in each half and also forced 16 turnovers. The Highlanders shot just 20.3-percent from the field and attempted only two free throws. Stevens, on the other hand, made 29 of its 73 attempts (39.7%) and pulled down 30 more rebounds (52 to 22) than Cairn. Neither team shot particularly well from three-point range, as Stevens was just 1-for-10 and Cairn went 6-for-33.
Freshman
Brittany Washington (Iselin, N.J.) posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Ducks and went 5-for-8 from the floor with seven offensive rebounds. Classmate
Daphne Ginn (Lawrenceville, N.J.) paced Stevens with 11 points and just missed out on a double-double with eight boards. Ginn also tallied the lone three-pointer for the Ducks in the contest.
Sophomores
Miranda Ripken (Fallston, Md.) and
Megan Petuskey (Mays Landing, N.J.) each recorded eight points on a combined 8-for-10 shooting. Ripken was a perfect 4-for-4, while Petuskey drained all but two of her six attempts and picked up three steals.
Nazareth 70, Alfred 55 (
Box Score)
Visiting Nazareth closed the final 7:36 of the first half with a decisive 18-4 scoring run to claim a 35-23 lead at halftime. The Golden Flyers went on to defeat Alfred 70-55 in an Empire 8 women's basketball game on Wednesday evening. Senior
Megan Morrison tallied eight points to lead all players in scoring during the opening half to help Nazareth build its lead. Morrison finished with 11 points, one shy of the career-high she reached in Nazareth's November victory over Bard.
After allowing the Saxons to open a 10-4 lead 4:05 into the game, Nazareth answered with seven consecutive points to take its first lead of the game. The Golden Flyers' scoring run took only 1:22 as junior
Hannah Runyon converted two free throw opportunities, sophomore
Julia Brew connected on a three-point attempt, and sophomore
Veronica Peck capped the run with a layup.
The teams remained within one possession of each other until Nazareth outscored Alfred by 14 points to close the opening half. Morrison led the run with eight of the Golden Flyers' first 13 points. Junior
Melissa Reeves followed Morrison's initial run-igniting three-point bucket with a layup. Peck and Morrison then connected on respective three-point attempts, which was followed by a two-point jumper by Morrison. Senior
Anna Wicks scored the next five Nazareth points with a layup and a shot from outside the three-point arc. Wicks' three-point basket provided the Golden Flyers with their first double-digit lead of the contest, 35-23, which Nazareth maintained throughout the second stanza. The Golden Flyers' tenacious defense held the Saxons to only one layup for nearly the final seven minutes of the half.
Nazareth connected on 5-10 (50 percent) of their three-point attempts and were 13-30 (43.3 percent) overall on their field goal attempts in the opening 20 minutes while holding Alfred to 10-32 (31.3 percent) from the field, including 2-7 (28.6 percent) from beyond the three-point arc .
In the second half, the Golden Flyers stretched their lead to 16 points following a jumper and a pair of free throws by sophomore Lindsay Kelly. With 14:47 to play in regulation, Nazareth took a game-high 18-point lead, 46-28, following a three-pointer by Wicks and a free throw by Peck. The Golden Flyers held a lead of at least 13 points throughout the remainder of the contest before claiming the 70-55 victory.
Kelly recorded a game-high 15 points. Peck, fresh off her career-high 17-point game against Houghton on Saturday, tallied 14 points while Morrison was the third Nazareth player in double-digits with 11 points. Wicks finished with eight points while Brew and Runyon tallied seven points apiece. Kelly's 10 rebounds helped the Golden Flyers finish with a 40-33 advantage on the glass.
Kathryn Polletta and Rachael Stedman led the Saxons with 11 points and 10 points, respectively. Hailey Sick and Sarah Federico each collected six rebounds. Harley Cleary entered the game as Alfred's leading scorer with an average of 13.7 points per game. The Golden Flyers held Cleary to six points as she could only manage a pair of baskets and two free throws.
John Carroll 64, Ithaca 62 (
Box Score)
The Ithaca College women's basketball team (8-4) made a late run, but came up short falling 64-62 to 24th-ranked John Carroll (10-0) Wednesday night in Ben Light Gymnasium.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Blue Streaks claimed a five-point edge at the half, 32-27. They powered to a double-digit lead three minutes into the second, but Ithaca chipped away at its deficit to trail 48-47 at 10:11. John Carroll pieced together a 7-0 run that Ithaca again answered. The Bombers took a 62-59 lead at 2:21 on an
Ally Mnich (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel) three-point play, but would be held scoreless down the stretch. The Blue Streaks scored the final five points of the contest to remain undefeated on the season.
Senior
Mary Kate Tierney (Rochester, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy) posted her ninth career double-double with a 21-point, 10-rebound performance to lead the Bombers. Classmate
Jenn Escobido (Lisbon, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) added 11 points and seven rebounds. Mnich and junior
Francesca Cotrupe (Whitesboro, N.Y./Whitesboro) chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds, respectively. Tierney had four blocks, all in the first half, and joined Escobido with a trio of steals.
The lead changed 10 times in the first, ending in John Carroll's favor, 32-27. Both teams held a five-point edge with Ithaca gaining the first, 17-12, at 10:08 when Tierney drove the length of the floor for a left-handed layup. The Blue Streaks used five unanswered to snap the fourth deadlock of the contest and lead 30-25 at 1:49. A Klie layup made it a one-possession game with 52 seconds on the clock, but a buzzer-beater bucket for John Carroll secured the five-point halftime margin.
The Blue Streaks dominated early in the second, twice taking a double-digit lead. Ithaca rewrote a 45-34 deficit with a 13-3 streak to cut within one at the 10-minute mark. Seven straight gave John Carroll another cushion. A Tierney steal led to her hitting a pair of free throws and an Escobido steal on the subsequent play led to Mnich's second and-one play of the game good for a three-point edge. The Blue Streaks held the Bombers scoreless, while posting five points in the final 2:08 , to earn the victory.
Both squads shot 37.7 percent from the field, hitting 23-of-61. Ithaca owned a 44-38 gap in rebounds.