Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Jan. 30, 2016) – A game-winning 18-foot jumper from senior forward Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.) with ten seconds remaining in regulation allowed the Molloy College women's basketball team to prevail in a 58-55 victory over Saint Thomas Aquinas on Saturday at Quealy Gymnasium. Molloy survived a 25-turnover effort through 40 minutes of basketball to gain the upset and better the team's conference record with now eight games to play in the regular season.
The two squads combined to commit 28 giveaways in a back-and-forth first half that featured four tie scores and eight lead changes over the first 20 minutes of play. Molloy (6-14, 5-7 ECC) opened the first quarter by taking a 2-0 lead on a jumper from senior guard Alexia O'Connor (Centerport, N.Y.) in the game's first 30 seconds. Saint Thomas Aquinas (13-7, 6-6 ECC) would claim a 7-6 lead as junior guard Samantha Burden (Westbury, N.Y.) knocked in a three-pointer with 6:14 to play in the stanza. The game would shift in favor of the Lions with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes as Jackson and O'Connor did much of the damage in putting the maroon and white up 14-7. Thanks to a 6-0 responding run, Molloy's lead after one quarter was just one point at 14-13.
STAC opened the second frame by re-taking the lead off a lay-up by Kaitlyn McCue (Bergenfield, N.J.) but the advantage for the visitors did not last long. Senior forward Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) hit a three-ball with 6:25 to play in the half in giving Molloy a 20-17 edge, but McCue responded for STAC by re-claiming the lead on a lay-up less than three minutes later. Down 25-22, the Lions scored seven straight points on jumpers by Ihnacinse Grady (Amityville, N.Y.) and Leftridge as well as a three from O'Connor; the Spartans would even the score at 29-all going into the halftime break.
After surviving a turnover-laden first half of basketball, Molloy started the second half of play on the right notes with Jackson scoring her team's first five points in racing out to a 34-30 advantage. The lead was 36-32 for Molloy with four minutes and change left in the frame, but STAC showed grit and toughness again with sophomore forward Adiya Henderson (Troy, N.Y.) and McCue hitting back-to-back lay-ups to level the score once again. A jumper by junior guard Shantana Kanhoye (South Richmond Hill, N.Y.) followed by free throws from Leftridge put the hosts up by four points with 2:51 to play. O'Connor extended the lead to six points off of a trifecta with 1:21 to go in the quarter, and her fellow senior Leftridge gave Molloy an eight-point lead before sophomore guard Jenna Erickson (Melrose, N.Y.) closed the period with a jumper to send the Spartans into the final frame down 45-39.
Red-shirt sophomore guard Alex Bertolino (Garnerville, N.Y.) scored the first five points of the fourth quarter in a span of 3:13 to bring the Spartans within one point at 45-44. The Garnerville native traded buckets with junior center Brianna Perlmutter (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in keeping the score within a one-point margin. STAC took a 50-49 lead on a trey from senior forward Allyson Brennan (Hicksville, N.Y.) with just over four-and-a-half minutes to play in regulation. From there, the game took on a pattern with Molloy hitting field goals to take a lead and Saint Thomas Aquinas sinking foul shots to tie the game up. The game would be knotted up at 55-all with 20 seconds remaining when Jackson took a feed from senior guard Alex Hampton (Baldwin, N.Y.) and knocked down the game-winner. STAC attempted to respond late, but an in-bounds pass from Henderson was picked off by O'Connor. The senior hit one of two free throws, and Bertolino's last-ditch three-pointer was well off the mark as time expired.
Jackson and Leftridge both had a game-high 17 points in the win, with O'Connor adding 14 of her own. Perlmutter added four points but also set team marks with nine rebounds and three blocks to boot. Hampton had two points, four rebounds and six assists while Kanhoye added five boards off of the bench. Molloy won with a 42.9% (24-56) efficiency in field goal shooting, and the Lions took the 'W' despite shooting 21.1% (4-19) from beyond the three-point line, hitting half (6-12, 50%) of their free throws and committing the aforementioned 25 turnovers. Molloy also was plus-10 (41-31) in the rebounding category in the victory.
STAC was paced by Henderson's 13 points off of the bench, while Burden and McCue both scored 11 and Bertolino added 10. Henderson and Burden both had six rebounds to lead the Spartans, who committed 17 turnovers and hit just 37% (20-54) of their field goals. STAC was also rather poor from beyond the three-point line, hitting just 2-of-15 (13.3%) of the attempts from deep range.
The Molloy College women's basketball team will host the conference-leading Firebirds of UDC (10-0 in East Coast Conference play as of Jan. 30) on Saturday (Feb. 6) at 12 p.m.
