AMHERST, N.Y. – Four players scored in double figures to lead Daemen College to a 79-76 victory over New York Institute of Technology here today in East Coast Conference women's basketball action. Daemen is now 3-2 over its last five games and improved to 6-11 overall and 3-4 in the ECC. NYIT, which is receiving votes in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll, suffered its second-straight loss and dropped to 10-7 overall and 4-3 in the league.
It was also the first-ever victory for Daemen over the Bears. NYIT, one of the top program's in the region over the past few years, had prevailed in each of the previous eight meetings.
Senior Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) paced the Wildcats with her fifth double-double of the year, as she finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Freshman Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) scored 12 of her career-high 19 points in the first half and also added eight rebounds. Sophomore Sarah Young (Depew, N.Y./St. Bonaventure) chipped in 10 points and seven boards, while sophomore Sydney Jones (Clifton Springs, N.Y./Midlakes) went 3-for-4 from downtown and scored 11 points in 16 minutes off the bench. Junior Erin Egan (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) also turned in solid minutes off the bench for the Wildcats and totaled nine points, five rebounds, four blocks and two steals.
Graduate student Maia Hood (Elmsford, N.Y.) led the Bears with a game-high 23 points and seven rebounds, while senior Nina Vukosavljevic (Belgrade, Serbia) added four three-pointers and 20 points.
A back-and-forth first quarter featured six ties and seven lead changes. Neither team led by more than three points throughout the first quarter, and the Bears took a 22-19 lead when Vukosavljevic drained a three-pointer with six seconds left in the frame. Daemen would forced the sixth tie of the quarter when Jones took the inbounds pass, dribbled to half court and banked a shot home from mid-court as the buzzer sounded.
New York Tech held a 25-24 lead early in the second quarter when the Wildcats put together a 7-0 spurt. A three-pointer by sophomore Carina Pringle (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) capped the run and gave the hosts a 31-25 lead with 6:44 left before intermission. Daemen went scoreless for the next two minutes and the Bears eventually cut the lead to a point, 31-30, following a put back by freshman Hanna Ghonim (Alexandria, Egypt). The Wildcats answered with back-to-back jumpers by White and Daemen later took a nine-point lead, 42-33, when White drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:42 left before intermission. NYIT closed out the half with four free throws and the Wildcats took a 42-37 lead into the break.
NYIT chipped away at the Daemen lead and eventually made it a one-point game, 49-48, midway through the third quarter following a jumper by junior Madison Strippoli (Ossining, N.Y.). A layup by Hood with just over two minutes left in the frame gave the visitors a 54-53 lead, but Daemen closed out the quarter with eight unanswered points. Back-to-back three-pointers by Jones sparked the rally, and a put back by Young with 15 seconds left in the quarter gave Daemen a 61-54 lead.
Daemen increased the lead to nine points, 66-57, following a jumper by Saba 2:33 into the fourth quarter, but NYIT scored seven of the next nine points and cut the lead to four points, 68-64, following a three-pointer by freshman Shalie Frierson (Troy, N.Y.) midway through the four quarter. Daemen was clinging to a two-point lead (72-70) with just under two minutes left when Egan came up with two huge blocks during the same possession, and then Pringle made one-of-two free throws to make it a 73-70 game with 1:13 to play. NYIT came up empty on its next possession and White split a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left to give Daemen a 74-70 lead. A put back by Hood made it a two-point game, before Egan came up big again by swishing two free throws with 17 seconds to play. NYIT once again made it a two-point game (76-74), but Saba answered with two free throws with :09 seconds left to make it a two-possession game at 78-74. A late layup by Vukosavljevic and a free throw by White closed out the scoring.
Daemen shot 42-percent (28-for-6) from the field and connected on 8-of-19 from three-point land. The hosts attempted 21 free throws (18 in the second half) and made 15. NYIT shot 46-percent (26-for-56) from the field and made 5-of-14 from downtown. The Bears attempted 26 free throws and made 19. The visitors finished with a slim 38-36 edge in total rebounds, but Daemen held the advantage in points-off-turnovers (13-11), second-chance points (16-9) and bench points (20-11).
The Wildcats are idle until next weekend when they travel to Molloy College (Jan. 19) and Queens College (Jan. 21) for ECC games.
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