ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – Senior Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) scored 10 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Daemen College women's basketball team to a come-from-behind 55-50 victory over Molloy College here tonight in East Coast Conference women's basketball action. Daemen, which has won four of its last six games, improved to 7-11 overall and evened its ECC record to 4-4. Molloy saw its two-game winning streak come to an end and dropped to 8-10 overall and 3-5 in the ECC.
The win vaulted Daemen into a tie for fourth place in the ECC standings. It also marked Daemen's first win at Molloy's Quealy Gymnasium since December of 2013.
Saba, who played all 40 minutes in the game, also collected a career-high 15 rebounds en route to her sixth double-double of the year. Saba, who is averaging a league-high 18.3 points per game, has now scored 20 or more points in a game seven times this season. She now stands just 14 points shy of 1,600 for her career and the 15 rebounds gives her exactly 700 career rebounds. She also registered her team-leading 24th block of the season. It was a big one—as she rejected a game-tying three-point attempt by Molloy with two seconds left to secure the win.
Sophomore Carina Pringle (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) also played all 40 minutes for the Wildcats and finished with 10 points and five assists. Redshirt freshman Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia) added 10 points and five boards. Filbert has now scored in double figures in six of the last eight games. Freshman Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) chipped in seven points and eight rebounds.
Freshman Melody Prichard (Knightdale, N.C.) paced the Lions with 17 points and eight rebounds, while junior Ihnacinse Grady (Amityville, N.Y.) added 12 points and three assists.
Both teams struggled to score early in the game and the Wildcats held a 7-6 lead midway through the first quarter when the visitors opened up a 10-6 lead following a three-pointer by White. Daemen would go on to take a 13-8 lead into the second quarter.
Daemen took its largest lead of the first half (19-12) three minutes into the second quarter following back-to-back buckets by Saba and Filbert, but the Lions answered with seven-straight points and eventually tied the game at 19-19 following a deep three-pointer by sophomore Kaitlyn Gibson (Neponsit, N.Y.) with 3:02 left before halftime. The teams then traded baskets before the Wildcats closed out the first-half scoring with a three-pointer by Pringle.
Molloy scored the first six points of the third quarter and later took a five-point lead, 31-26, following a jumper by freshman Gabriella Aspuru (Farmingville, N.Y.) with 6:38 left in the frame. Daemen answered with a jumper by White, but the Lions went on to outscore the Wildcats 11-2 over the next five minutes and took a 12-point lead, 42-30, following a steal and layup by Prichard with 38 seconds left in the third. The hosts took a 42-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
The teams traded baskets early in the fourth quarter and Molloy held a 48-37 lead when the Wildcats scored 10-straight points and cut the lead to a point following back-to-back layups by Saba midway through the frame. Neither team scored again until a jumper by Saba with 1:39 left gave the Wildcats a 49-48 lead. A put back by freshman Marthe Guirand (Stamford, Conn.) with 1:11 left put the Lions back on top by one. Daemen was off the mark with a three-point attempt with 58 seconds left, but junior Erin Egan (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) saved the rebound from going out of bounds and then later banked home a shot from down low with 45 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 51-50 lead. Molloy had two chances to take the lead on their next possession but came up empty. Saba collected the rebound following a miss by Grady with 17 seconds left, and the senior calmly canned two free throws two seconds later to give Daemen a 53-50 lead. Pritchard's three-point point attempt was then blocked by Saba, and Saba closed out the scoring from the charity stripe.
Both teams struggled to score all game. Daemen shot 34-percent (19-for-56) from the field overall and made just 4-of-22 from three-point land. The Wildcats entered the game ranked second among ECC teams in three-pointers made per game (7.8). Daemen came up big at the free throw line, canning 13-of-16 attempts—with Saba going 8-for-10. Molloy shot 20-of-58 (34%) from the field overall and connected on just 3-of-15 from downtown. The Lions made 7-of-11 from the charity stripe. Both teams collected 39 rebounds in the game.
The Wildcats remain in the New York City area to play Queens College Sunday (Jan. 21) in an ECC game.
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