ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Feb. 19, 2016) - In the most pressure-packed situations, the team with destiny in its hands and determination on its mind can accomplish just about anything. The Molloy College women's basketball team has embodied that for a majority of this season, earning a massive 67-52 win over Bridgeport on Thursday (Feb. 18) to take the season series over the Purple Knights and level conference records at 8-9 with Saint Thomas Aquinas for fifth place in the ECC standings. Three games remain for the maroon and white, all with play-off implications, and the first of those contests takes place Saturday (Feb. 20) at Dowling College in Oakdale.
The Lowdown on the LionsDown 49-48 to Bridgeport in the third quarter, Molloy was able to run away with the contest thanks to a near-shutout of the Purple Knights in the final frame. For further proof, check out the statistics below:
Molloy - 19 points, 7-14 (50%) field goal shooting, two turnovers.
Bridgeport - three points (only scored with 40 seconds to play in the contest), 1-17 (5.9%) field goal shooting, 1-7 (14.3%) three-point shooting, eight turnovers.
It was an 18-0 run for 9:20 of the final stanza that allowed Molloy to usurp the lead and run away with the contest. It could be that defining run that carries the Lions to the ECC Tournament in March.
Kimani's The KeySenior forward
Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.) is finishing her Molloy career in style as a team leader and the best scorer for the maroon and white of late. Through her last three games, Jackson is averaging 20.7 points per contest including a 24-point effort versus Bridgeport. Her 349 total points are the eighth-most in the ECC while her 14.5 points per game average is ninth-best. Always a proficient field goal shooter, Jackson ranks sixth in the conference with a 45.9% efficiency from the field. But the senior may also be nearing a goal that most would have thought unattainable: the 1,000-point plateau. Jackson currently sits with 913 total points in her Molloy career, and if the Lions can get to the postseason, the barrier can be broken as long as the Dix Hills native keeps up her impressive streak.
Are We Out of the Woods Yet? Nope...At 8-9, Molloy has a three-game lead over LIU Post (and the tiebreaker based on head-to-head competition). The Lions are also two-and-a-half games ahead of Bridgeport (6-10 plus the season series sweep)...but Daemen College provides an intriguing wrinkle. The Wildcats are now 7-10 in ECC affairs after a 57-53 win over LIU Post on Friday, and David Skolen's club hosts NYIT on Sunday in Amherst. The Lions will face Daemen on Feb. 26 in a game that could be a big factor in determining the final seed in the conference play-off bracket. In order to get there, however, Molloy must first knock off Dowling to get to 9-9. Then the maroon and white can start to mull over the permutations of play-off chances.
Golden Lions Limping Down the Home StretchSuffice it to say, it has been a rough year for Dowling College in women's basketball terms. The Golden Lions have not won since a 74-68 victory over Daemen on Dec. 18, 2015, a streak of 15 consecutive losses for the 2-21 team out of Oakdale. On Thursday, Dowling was besieged by a 29-4 third quarter in falling at Queens College by a 79-41 score. The only saving grace from the game for Suzi Fregosi's club was that senior guard Krstina Surlan (Novi Grad, Bosnia) reached the 1,000-point plateau for her illustrious career.
Prior MeetingJackson had a game-high 19 points while fellow senior
Alexia O'Connor (Centerport, N.Y.) added 15 points in Molloy's 66-51 win over Dowling at Quealy Gymnasium back on Jan. 16. The Lions shot 49% (25-51) as a team from the field and hit 10-of-29 three-point attempts for an efficiency rating of 34.5%.
