OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – Senior Dina Ragab (Cairo, Egypt) totaled 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead New York Institute of Technology to a 76-48 victory over Daemen College here today in East Coast Conference women's basketball action. NYIT, which is ranked ninth in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll, ran its winning streak to nine-straight games and improved to 14-5 overall and 9-0 in the ECC. Daemen dropped to 3-11 overall and 1-7 in the league.
Sophomore Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) paced Daemen once again, as she finished with 18 points, five rebounds and three steals. She has now scored in double figures in 11 of Daemen's 14 games and is averaging a team-high 15.6 points. Classmate Liz Miles (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) added nine points and five rebounds off the bench for Daemen.
Junior Julie Williams (Smithtown, N.Y.) drilled two three-pointers and scored 10 points for the host Bears, while freshman Madison Strippoli (Ossining, N.Y.) went 2-for-3 from downtown and scored 12 points in just 11 minutes off the bench.
New York Tech scored the first nine points of the game, but Daemen answered with a 7-1 run and cut the lead to three points, 10-7, following a bucket by Saba with 4:22 left in the first quarter.
NYIT took a 16-11 lead into the second quarter and the hosts took control of the game by outscoring the Wildcats 15-4 over the first six minutes of the second frame. A layup by Williams with 4:01 left in the quarter capped the run and gave the Bears a 31-15 lead. The teams traded baskets the rest of the half and NYIT took a 39-23 lead into intermission.
The Bears denied Daemen any chance of the comeback by opening the second half with a 12-5 run. A jumper by Ragab with 5:47 left in the quarter capped the spurt and gave the hosts a 23-point lead, 51-28. The lead was 24 points, 60-36, after three quarters, and it eventually grew to 29 points, 67-38, four minutes into the final frame.
After shooting a season-high 46-percent from the field in a win at LIU Post Friday night, the Wildcats connected on just 16-of-56 shots (29%) this afternoon. The Bears, who shot over 40-percent for the 10th time this season, finished 28-of-60 from the field (47%). The hosts posted a 53-25 edge in total rebounds and collected 17 offensive boards. Those numbers led to a commanding 20-5 advantage in second-chance points and a 42-10 edge in points in the paint for the hosts.
Daemen is idle until Friday (Jan. 22) when it hosts Molloy College in an ECC game at 6 p.m.
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