Rockville Centre, N.Y. (Jan. 10, 2018) – The Molloy women's basketball team defeated the Bridgeport Purple Knights, 53-48, Wednesday evening at Quealy Gymnasium. The Lions moved to 7-9 overall and 2-4 in ECC play with the win. Junior Ihnacinse Grady netted a team-high 14 points, and freshmen Melody Prichard and Gabriella Aspuru tallied 12 points each for the maroon and white.

Molloy started the game with a 6-4 lead, which was sparked by three-pointers from Aspuru and Prichard. With the score 6-4, the Lions went on a 13-0 run, led by five points from Prichard and four points from Grady and freshman Marthe Guirand (seven points and 15 rebounds), to put the home team up 19-4.  Bridgeport (5-12, 2-5 ECC) added a basket before the end of the quarter to cut the maroon and white's lead to 19-6.

The Purple Knights made it a 21-13 contest early in the second quarter, but the Lions responded with eight straight points, led by five points from Grady, to bring their advantage to 29-13. Later in the frame, Prichard extended the lead to 21, 39-18, with a jump shot. The road team netted the final six points of the frame to make it a 39-24 game at the break.

Bridgeport began the third quarter with an 11-2 rally to cut the home team's lead to 41-35. Sophomore Kathryn Gibson (six points) hit a triple to give the Lions a 44-35 lead at the end of 30 minutes of play.

The away team shrunk Molloy's lead to 44-40 with 5:54 left. Aspuru answered with consecutive baskets to make it a 48-40 game. The Purple Knights cut the lead to 48-46 with 1:15 left, but the maroon and white put the game away on their way to victory.

Molloy returns to action Saturday, Jan. 13, when it travels to play Mercy. Tip-off with the Mavericks is slated for 1:00p.m.