BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – Graduate student Sasha Patterson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 21 of her 32 points in the first half to lead regionally-ranked Long Island University Post to a 70-54 victory over Daemen College here tonight in East Coast Conference women's basketball action. LIU Post, which is tied for sixth in the latest Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) East Region poll, ran its winning streak to five-straight games and improved to 9-1 overall and 3-0 in the ECC. Daemen saw its two-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the league.
Sophomore Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) paced the Wildcats, as she connected on 3-of-5 from downtown and equaled her career-high for points (19). She also grabbed five rebounds. Junior college transfer Ranaveya Richards (Albany, N.Y.) established career-highs for minutes (23), points (10) and rebounds (7), while senior Erin Egan (Williamsville, N.Y) added nine points, six rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
Patterson, the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, connected on 13-of-19 shots and also grabbed 17 rebounds. It marked her fifth-straight double-double. Senior guard Shannon Doyle (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) helped the LIUP cause with 12 points, three assists and two steals.
The hosts took control in the final three minutes of the second quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter. The Pioneers were clinging to a 30-29 lead with three minutes to play before halftime and closed out the second quarter with a 9-1 run. LIUP scored the first five points of the third quarter and later benefited from a questionable foul call with 6:19 left in the third. The call involved Patterson, who created contact under the LIUP basket while scoring. The whistle went against Egan, and the Daemen bench was given a technical foul after disputing the call. Junior Mikaiya Moore (Amityville, N.Y.) made the two technical free throws and Patterson completed the three-point play to give the hosts a 16-point lead, 51-35. LIUP maintained a comfortable lead the remainder of the game.
The Wildcats held a 9-6 lead with just over three minutes to play in the first quarter when the Pioneers put together a 10-0 run. A conventional three-point play by Patterson sparked the run, and a layup by Patterson with 1:31 left in the quarter capped the rally and gave the hosts a 16-9 lead. White answered with a three-pointer on Daemen's next possession, and after a LIUP turnover the Wildcats cut the lead to two points when Filbert fed White for a layup with 37 seconds left in the frame. The Pioneers took an 18-17 lead into the second quarter.
Daemen opened the second quarter with a conventional three-point play by White and a three-pointer from Egan to take a 23-18 lead, but the Pioneers responded with a 10-2 run and took a 28-25 lead after freshman Ja'Lyn Armstrong (Baltimore, Md.) made one of two free throws with 3:54 left before halftime. LIUP held a 30-29 lead with three minutes left in the frame when the hosts closed out the quarter with a 9-1 run for a 39-30 halftime lead.
Neither team scored for nearly three minutes after the controversial call at the 6:19 mark of the third, and the score was 52-37 LUIP with two minutes left in the quarter. The Pioneers took a 54-42 lead into the fourth.
Daemen went scoreless for the first three minutes of the final frame, which allowed the Pioneers to establish a 17-point lead (59-42). The LIUP lead was 61-44 when a three-pointer by sophomore Autumn Buchsenschutz (Port Allegany, Pa.) sparked the Wildcats on an 8-0 run that cut the lead to single digits. A layup by White with 3:06 left capped the run and made the score 61-52, but Doyle answered with a layup at the other end and neither team scored after that until Patterson completed the three-point play with 1:59 left to give the Pioneers a 66-52 lead.
The game featured 53 fouls and and teams combined to take 50 free throws. Daemen shot just 29-percent (18-for-62) from the field overall and made just 6-of-21 from three-point land. The Wildcats went 12-of-17 from the charity stripe. LIUP shot 50-percent (14-of-28) from the field in the first half and finished 23-for-54 (43%) overall. The hosts went 4-of-15 from downtown and made 20-of-33 free throws. The Pioneers finished with a 44-36 edge in total rebounds, and the hosts also posted an advantage in points off turnovers (17-14), second-chance points (11-7), bench points (15-12) and points in the paint (38-18).
Daemen remains on Long Island and will play at New York Institute of Technology Sunday (Dec. 16) at 1 p.m. NYIT (10-2, 3-0 ECC) posted a 60-49 victory over Roberts Wesleyan College tonight and is receiving votes in the latest D2SIDA national poll.
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