Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Feb. 18, 2016) – The Molloy College women's basketball team held a game Bridgeport squad off the scoreboard for nearly the entire fourth quarter to earn a critical 67-52 victory in East Coast Conference action at Quealy Gymnasium on Thursday (Feb. 18). The win kept Molloy in stride with Saint Thomas Aquinas at 8-9 for fifth place in the East Coast Conference standings, while the Lions' overall record improved to 9-16 on the year. Bridgeport took the loss and falls to 8-16 overall and 6-10 in ECC play.
Molloy started the contest off on a 4-0 run thanks to jumpers by seniors Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.) and Alexia O'Connor (Centerport, N.Y.) within the first minute of action. Bridgeport rallied back to take a 10-8 lead with 6:14 remaining in the first on a bucket by Evelyn Ovner (Vallentuna, Sweden); the Lions attacked the basket afterwards, sparking a 10-0 run that saw the maroon and white lead 18-10 on the way to a 24-17 edge after one period of play. Senior Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) scored the first two points of the second quarter to up the Lions' advantage to nine points at 26-17, but Bridgeport was able to silence the hosts' pressure for a majority of the frame. Down 27-19, the Purple Knights went on an 8-0 spurt that lasted five minutes and was silenced only by a Jackson lay-up with 3:01 until halftime that gave Molloy its last lead of the first half at 29-27. Bridgeport hit six free throws down the stretch surrounding another two-pointer by Jackson, and the visitors went into the locker room with a 33-31 margin of lead.
An entertaining, back-and-forth third quarter was the state of play at Quealy Gymnasium as both sides went back-and-forth with the lead. Molloy grabbed a 35-34 edge on an O'Connor three-pointer just 35 seconds into the frame, but Ovner quickly answered for Bridgeport to give the Purple Knights a one-point edge. Freshman guards would trade trifectas as Brianna Stoddart (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Ihnacinse Grady (Amityville, N.Y.) hit treys, keeping the visitors ahead by three points at 42-39. After O'Connor tied the game with a deep ball with less than four minutes remaining in the stanza, sophomore Aurelie Leblanc-Florent (Longueuil, Quebec, Canada) responded with a three of her own to put her side back ahead by three points. Though Grady gave Molloy a 48-47 lead with 39 seconds left on a jumper, Stoddart had an answer at the other end to end the third quarter with Bridgeport up 49-48.
That was the last point for the Purple Knights until the 9:20 mark of the fourth and final frame. O'Connor started an 18-0 run for the Lions with a jumper just 45 seconds into the fray, giving Molloy a 50-49 edge. Back-to-back threes by O'Connor and Grady put the Lions up by seven points with five minutes to play, and junior forward Brianna Perlmutter (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored four points on jumpers in the paint to help the maroon and white build up a 64-49 edge. With Bridgeport unable to find the bottom of the hoop, the Lions cruised to a victory which gave them critical standing for a potential playoff run.
Jackson had a game-high 24 points, as her field-goal shooting (10-20, 50%) was impressive and led the Lions to a team percentage of 40.9% (27-66) from the field. O'Connor hit 3-of-6 from downtown and added 14 points while Leftridge and Grady both had 10-point evenings. Sophomore Aliyah McDonald (Hempstead, N.Y.) had three points to go along with five assists and six rebounds in the win.
Bridgeport was led by Ovner's 15-point night, while sister Louise Ovner (Vallentuna, Sweden) had 11 rebounds off the bench. The Lions held standout freshman guard Kadijah Dickson (Queens, N.Y.) in check, as she scored nine points but also committed nine turnovers. The Purple Knights were victims of the turnover game, giving the ball away 24 times which led to 27 Molloy points. The maroon and white, meanwhile, committed just 12 turnovers in the game.
The Lions will next encounter a Saturday afternoon matinee (Feb. 20) with Dowling College out in Oakdale, N.Y. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m.
