AMHERST, N.Y. – Senior Dina Ragab (Cairo, Egypt) connected on 11-of-16 shots and totaled 33 points to lead regionally-ranked New York Institute of Technology to a 75-58 victory over Daemen College here today in East Coast Conference women's basketball action.
Daemen, which lost for just the second time in the past seven games, dropped to 9-15 overall and 7-11 in the ECC. With two games left in the regular-season the Wildcats sit in seventh place in the ECC standings. The top six teams in the final regular-season standings advance to the ECC Championship tournament.
NYIT, which is ranked third in the NCAA Division II East Region poll, improved to 23-7 overall and remained atop the ECC standings at 17-2.
Sophomore Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) paced a balanced Daemen attack with 15 points and 10 rebounds. It marked the second-straight double-double for Saba, who totaled 20 points and 10 rebounds in a win over LIU Post on Friday. Senior Somara Colon (Bronx, N.Y./Mott Haven Village Prep) connected on 4-of-6 shots and totaled 10 points. Sophomore Liz Miles (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) added eight points, six rebounds and three assists, while junior Jesse DeWaters (Lockport, N.Y./Niagara County CC) drilled two three-pointers and finished with eight points in 15 minutes off the bench.
Junior Shannon Duer (Islip, N.Y.) contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Bears, while sophomore point guard Nina Vukosavljevic (Belgrade, Serbia) added four points and eight assists.
New York Tech connected on seven of its first eight shots and held a 17-4 lead midway through the first quarter. The Wildcats responded with a 10-4 run over the next three minutes and cut the lead to seven points, 21-14, following back-to-back three-pointers by DeWaters. The hosts went scoreless over the final two minutes of the frame and the Bears took a 25-14 lead into the second quarter.
NYIT scored the first two points of the second quarter, before the Wildcats rallied with nine unanswered points and cut the lead to four points, 27-23, following a layup by DeWaters with 6:08 left in the quarter. The Bears responded with back-to-back buckets by Ragab and would go on to take a 37-30 lead into the break.
The teams traded baskets for the first three minutes of the third quarter, before the Bears took control with a 14-2 run. Ragab scored eight points during the run and a layup by Duer with 3:19 left in the quarter capped the run and gave the visitors a 58-38 lead. NYIT took a 60-42 lead into the fourth quarter.
New York Tech maintained a double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter.
Daemen connected on just 3-of-14 shots during the pivotal third quarter and the Wildcats finished just 18-for-60 (30%) from the field overall. NYIT, which entered the game ranked second among ECC teams in field goal percentage, shot 45-percent (13-29) in the first half and finished 27-for-65 (42%) from the field overall. The visitors finished with a 41-40 edge in total rebounds.
Today's game marked the final home game for seniors Somara Colon, Aujonee Smith, Raeann Stilwell and Samantha Wozniak. All four players were honored in a pregame ceremony.
Daemen closes out the regular-season next weekend with ECC road games at Molloy College (Feb. 26) and Queens College (Feb. 28).
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