ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Jan. 8, 2016) - The Molloy College women's basketball team has made a knack of keeping close with opponents this season and the Lions were successful in outscoring LIU Post on Wednesday (Jan. 6) to improve to 2-2 in conference competition. Saturday (Jan. 9) will provide a dangerous task for the maroon and white when the top team in the East Coast Conference brings its near-twenty point edge over conference foes to Quealy Gymnasium, as NYIT looks for a 6-0 start to ECC play at 12 p.m.
The Lowdown on the Lions
A convincing second half of play led Molloy to a 74-63 win over LIU Post on Wednesday (Jan. 6) as the Lions outscored the Pioneers 44-32 in the final two quarters of action. The maroon and white picked up its third win of the season and second in conference play thanks to a total team effort in which five players scored double-digit point totals. Senior forward Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) had a team-high 14 points while guards Alex Hampton (Baldwin, N.Y.) and Aliyah McDonald (Hempstead, N.Y.) each poured in 11. Senior forward Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.) added 10 points and five rebounds while freshman point guard Ihnacinse Grady (Amityville, N.Y.) had 10 points and three assists as well in the win. The Lions put forth a much-improved effort with 12 turnovers (as compared to 21 takeaways), a field goal percentage of 45.8% (27-59) and a free throw efficiency of 78% (14-18).
Kanhoye and Rodriguez Lead Improved Bench Performance
When Leftridge picked up her third foul at the 6:44 mark of the first quarter, the odds predictably stated that the senior would not see the court for the rest of the first half. Thus, head coach Joe Pellicane turned to his bench for some help and did they ever deliver. Junior guard Shantana Kanhoye (South Richmond Hill, N.Y.) continued what has been an impressive past few weeks of basketball with five points and a team-high six rebounds for the Lions in ten minutes of action. Sophomore forward Sabrina Rodriguez (Norwalk, Conn.) had five points in the second quarter to go along with an assist and rebound, while freshman guard Bridget Sharnick (Shelton, Conn.) had two points and a board in her four minutes of action. Along with Hampton's role off the bench, the Lions totaled 23 bench points which represents the team's highest bench production of the season.
McDonald Earning Her Starting Spot
In the last four contests for the maroon and white, the starting line-up has included No. 24 to moderate results. Wednesday night, McDonald turned in one of her better performances with 11 points, five rebounds and five assists in 29 minutes while being selective with her shots throughout the course of the game. McDonald hit 60% of her field goals, taking five shots and making three while also hitting five free throws in eight tries. The free throw percentage (21-41, 51.2%) is not exactly up to snuff, but McDonald's abilities on the court when given the chance to prove them are main catalysts for her staying in the starting lineup on Saturday versus NYIT.
Historic Victory Over Pioneers
It hasn't been often that Molloy snags a women's basketball win over LIU Post. In fact the last time it happened was on March 2, 2013 when the Lions closed out the season with a home win over the Pioneers in a 64-57 decision. That was one of just ten wins for the maroon and white that season while LIU Post would go on to make the ECC Championship game and fall just short of an East Region Championship in the NCAA Tournament. Speaking of previous ECC Championship runner-ups…
Now For NYIT
Since dropping a 71-55 decision to Bentley on Nov. 30, the NYIT women's basketball team has won five straight games that were coincidentally all in conference matchups. The last win for the Bears came on Wednesday (Jan. 6) in a 65-60 win over Queens College in Old Westbury. It was a rematch of last year's thrilling East Coast Conference Championship contest that saw NYIT take a sixteen-point lead into the halftime break only to lose by two points in a stunning second-half effort from the Knights to capture a 65-63 win. In Wednesday night's win for the Bears, senior forward Dina Ragab (Cairo, Egypt) had 22 points and 12 rebounds while junior guard Julie Williams (Smithtown, N.Y.) added 16 points. Sophomore guard Nina Vukosavljevic (Belgrade, Serbia) was just 2-for-11 from the field, but added eight assists to her nine-point night.
West Coast Beginnings
Basketball season generally does not begin until mid-November for a majority of the teams in the East Region. However, NYIT began its 2015-16 campaign by competing in a Halloween weekend tournament in Anaheim, Calif. at the CCA DII Tip-Off Classic. There the Bears claimed a 92-87 win over Academy of Art before losing to William Jewell in overtime and falling to nationally-ranked Winona State, a team that currently has a 14-1 record this season. Starting the year off 1-2 may not exactly look appealing to the masses, but NYIT was prepared and ready when Nov. 14 came around: The Bears knocked off Adelphi by ten points, 75-65, to begin East Region competition.
Conference Dominance
Statistically speaking, NYIT is averaging 70 points per game as a team and yielding just 62 points per contest through fifteen games this season. That said, the Bears' conference statistics reveal a dangerous point differential for opponents. NYIT is still at the 70 points per game margin on offense, but defensively the Bears are yielding a shade over 50 points per contest in wins over Dowling, St. Thomas Aquinas, Mercy, Bridgeport and Queens. Anthony Crocitto's club is also plus-13.8 in the rebounding category, pulling down 48.4 rebounds per game against 34.6 boards for the opposition. Ragab is putting up averages of 16.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game versus the ECC thus far, which speaks volumes to how important she is to the team's potential return to the ECC Championship.
None Truer
Around the time that Molloy was facing Saint Rose and Franklin Pierce in Albany, a hashtag started to trend worldwide on Twitter: #nonetruer. While the origins of that hashtag seem rudimentary and benign, one could easily point out that a case may be made for the hashtag being about NYIT junior forward Shannon Duer (Islip, N.Y.). Aside from the exquisite rhyme scheme (which is a favorite among public address announcers in the Northern Boulevard scene), Duer deserved recognition for what she did against Mercy on Dec. 19. The junior pulled down 23 rebounds---13 of which were on the offensive glass---and scored 15 points in a 75-55 win over the Mavericks. It was her ninth double-double and her second game of 20-plus rebounds this season. None truer than Shannon Duer, indeed, for NYIT.
