Ithaca, Naz, Houghton and Utica Open Season with Wins
UTICA 65, Potsdam 54
The Utica College women's basketball team opened up the season on a good note as it downed host SUNY Potsdam 65-54 in non-conference action Saturday afternoon.
Senior
Bridget Greenwald compiled a double-double as she pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, including nine off the offensive glass, and added 11 points. Classmate
Samantha Stayer led all players with 19 points and added seven boards, while junior
Mary Miceli added 12 points.
Utica found itself down 31-26 at the half, but the Pioneers rallied to outscore the Bears by 16 in the final 20 minutes to steal the victory.
FULL STORY
ITHACA 74, William Smith 63
The nationally ranked Ithaca College women's basketball team opened its 2014-15 season with a convincing 74-63 victory over William Smith College in Ben Light Gymnasium on Saturday. Ithaca has now won seven straight matchups against William Smith dating back to 2007.
Despite being outrebounded, 52-29, the Bombers forced the Herons into 28 turnovers which led to 30 points for Ithaca. Twenty-one of the turnovers caused by Ithaca were from steals – senior
Samantha Klie and sophomore
Ali Ricchiuti each tallied five, while senior
Ally Mnich had four and classmate
Francesca Cotrupe added three.
The Bombers never trailed in the first half and were tied just once in the opening 20 minutes of action. Mnich scored the team's first points on the season off an assist from Klie in the first minute and then Ricchiuti laid in a basket to put Ithaca ahead, 4-0, just 2:07 into the contest.
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NAZARETH 60, Sage 47
Nazareth opened up its 2014-2015 season this afternoon with a 60-47 win over Sage Colleges at the Golden Eagle Tip-Off Tournament.
Nazareth jumped out to an early 10-0 lead.
Hannah Runyon opened up the scoring with a three-pointer just :17 seconds into the game followed by back-to-back layups from
Lindsey Kelly.
Veronica Peck capped off the scoring drive with a three-pointer with 16:29 to go.
Sage then called a timeout and stopped the scoring drive with their first made field goal of the game to make the score 10-2. The Golden Flyers then went on a 13-2 run which included five different scores to extend their lead to 23-4 with 11:54 left in the half.
Nazareth held a commanding 38-19 lead at half-time and shot an impressive 51.6% from the field. Kelly led Nazareth with 10 points in the first shooting 5-for-6 from the field and grabbing seven rebounds.
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HOUGHTON 58, Canton 50
The Highlanders were able to kick off the 2014-2015 season opener on a great note by beating the SUNY Canton Kangaroos 58-50.
Three Highlander free throws gave Houghton the early lead;
Hannah Manwaring (Barton, NY, Tioga Central HS) being responsible for the first two at the line. After an 8-8 tie, the Kangaroos began to progress in their offense, minimizing the Highlanders scoring opportunities.
Houghton found themselves down 18-14 with just under 6 minutes left in the second half. However, it was back-to-back layups by both
Christel Enriquez-Fisher (Colorado Springs, CO, William Mitchell HS) and
Maisie Pipher (Lowman, NY, Twin Tiers Christian) that tied the game. Enriquez and Pipher continued to go the distance by scoring an additional 2 points each. By driving the ball through the paint,
Grace Bealor (Haddonfield, NJ, Haddonfield, HS) then gave the Highlanders their final points of the first period. Houghton would go into the second period leading 24-20.
It did not take long for SUNY Canton to tie the game 25-25 in the second period. This trend would continue through a majority or the remainder of the second period; tying 3 more additional times.
Down 45-44 with just over 7 minutes remaining in the game, Houghton regained the momentum. A Highlander layup and jumper, both compliments of
Esther Webb (Houghton, NY, Fillmore Central HS), gave Houghton the lead where they would never look back. With 41 seconds remaining in the game Enriquez sank three free throws, confirming the 58-50 Highlander win.
Pipher dominated in the Highlander offense, constituting 23 of the 58 Houghton points. Enriquez followed Pipher with 12 points on the night, as well as 7 steals.
Pitt-Bradford 71, ELMIRA 47
Brockport 71, ALFRED 59
Oberlin 66, HARTWICK 46
Salisbury 62, STEVENS 57
Santa Cruz 73, ST. JOHN FISHER 47