Perfect Day for Women's Hoops
HARTWICK 59, RPI 30
Hartwick's women's basketball team dominated visiting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for its first victory of the season in the third game of the 2014 Holiday Inn Classic on Sunday at Lambros Arena. 'Wick held the Engineers to just 20.8% shooting in the game.
The victory marked the first at Hartwick for first-year head coach
Jackie Craft.
Emily Stone was virtually unstoppable as she scored a game-and career-high 22 points. She hit 8-of-9 (.889) from the floor and was perfect from three-point range (3-for-3) and the free-throw line (3-for-3. She also recorded a game-high four assists and grabbed four rebounds.
Christina Graziadei and
Taylor Vonasek added nine points and six rebounds apiece.
Anna Hickey contributed eight points and
Courtney Cirillo scored seven.
After the first six and a half minutes played in the first half, Stone's first three-pointer of the day gave Hartwick the lead which it never relinquished. The Engineers kept their deficit to eight points or less until five and a half minutes remained on the first-half clock when Stone converted a layup to push the lead to double digits, 22-12. The 'Wick lead grew to 15 points after a pair of Hickey free throws and the Hawks would make it to halftime up by a 32-17 margin.
The Hawks held the Engineers to 27.3% shooting in the half while shooting 41.7% (10-for-24). RPI also committed 17 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
The visitors only could get as close as 11 points early in the second half. The Hartwick advantage grew to 20 points, 45-25, with under 11 minutes left on a Stone triple. The Hawks continued to pour it on, taking a 29-point lead, 56-27, with 3:44 remaining.
The Hawks' final margin of victory of 29 marks the largest win since a 35-point victory over Nazareth last season on January 31.
Hartwick finished the day shooting 40.0% (18-for-45), which was a season-high. The Engineers' 20.8% shooting was the lowest the Hawks have held an opponent since holding St. John Fisher to the same percentage last season in a 73-51 win. The 30 RPI turnovers are the most committed by a Hartwick opponent since Wells College on November 15, 2010.
Jacqui Foreman registered a career-high six steals in the game for the Hawks.
Sarah Shaw registered three blocked shots in six minutes for 'Wick.
NAZARETH 59, Fredonia 43
Despite starting the game 0-for-12 from the field, Nazareth found its groove and came from behind to defeat Fredonia 59-43 in a non-conference women's basketball game. Winning their third straight, the Golden Flyers are now 3-0 while the Blue Devils drop their first game of the year and are 1-1.
After
Sam Sorge made two free-throws just :27 seconds into the game, Nazareth did not score its first field goal until 12:53 when
Veronica Peck hit her first of three three-pointers to make the score 11-5 Fredonia. Nazareth then hit its stride and
Lindsey Kelly tied the game at 15-15 off a jumper at 9:03. The game was tied several more times throughout the half before the Golden Flyers took the lead for good just :03 before half-time when Peck gave a behind-the-back pass to
Kelly Broderick who made the lay-up and put Nazareth up 26-24.
The Golden Flyers came out strong in the second half scoring 12-straight points to build a 38-24 lead. They held the Blue Devils scoreless for the first 5:30 of the half. Nazareth went on another 10-2 run mid-way through the half to go up 22 points, 53-31 with 7:23 remaining.
Eleven different Golden Flyers contributed to the scoring with Kelly leading the way with a double-double. She had game highs 17 points and 11 rebounds. Kelly was 7-of-11 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from the line. Sorge finished with 10 points including 4-for-4 from the line. Peck finished with nine points all coming from beind the arc and also dished out four assists.
Hannah Runyon had a game-high six assists in the win.
The Blue Devils were led by Sabrina Macaulay who had 15 points and seven rebounds.
Nazareth shot 32% from the field and out-rebounded Fredonia 48-40.
UTICA 71, Keystone 65
Despite being outscored by six in the second half, the Utica College women's basketball team was able to hold on to defeat host Keystone College 71-65 in non-conference action Sunday afternoon. Senior
Bridget Greenwald collected her third double-double in five games.
With the win, the Pioneers improve to 3-2 on the year and they have now won their last two contests. Utica returns to action Monday, Dec. 1 as it hosts local rival SUNYIT. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Utica took the lead nine minutes into the contest and did not relinquish it as the Pioneers went into the halftime with a 38-26 lead. Greenwald led Utica with 19 points and added 13 boards, while Senior
Christy Traglia netted 13 points. Freshmen
Ashley Mayo and
Alaina Tripp combined for 18 points, 11 rebounds, and helped lead the Utica bench that outscored Keystone subs 26-4.