BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – Fueled by a balanced attack on Tuesday evening with five members of the Concordia College New York women's basketball team ending the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest with double-digit points, the Clippers fended off a late rally by visiting Nyack College for a 72-68 victory.
NOTES
• Concordia improves to 6-19, 5-11 in CACC action.
• Nyack falls to 8-15, 6-10 in league play.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Senior guard Nicole Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored 14 points off 6-10 shooting.
• Freshman guard Christina Brown (Ardmore, Pa.) registered 11 points with seven rebounds and seven assists.
• Freshman guard Marigona Bacaliu (Worcester, Mass.) scored 13 points off the bench.
• Freshman forward Jaayden Lafontant (Theills, N.Y.) scored 10 points with eight rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Sara Hopkins (Mountain Top, Pa.) scored 14 points with 12 coming off a 4-4 showing from three-point range on top of five assists.
• Junior guard Shanice Graves (Brooklyn, N.Y.) dished out a career-best seven assists with seven rebounds.
• For Nyack, Kyla Given scored 17 points with four assists while Jasmine Cruse added 12 points with 11 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Following Concordia's basket to open the contest, Nyack used an 8-2 stretch to take an 8-4 lead with 7:53 remaining in the first quarter. The Clippers connected on a three-point play to cut the separation down to one, retaking the lead at 15-14 with 2:04 remaining in the stanza following a 4-0 run. Three-straight points for the visitors pushed them to a 17-15 lead, with the Warriors scoring a three-pointer following a Concordia layup to go up 20-17 before a Brown basket with 33 seconds left in the frame made it 20-19.
• Concordia scored the opening basket of the second quarter, using a 5-0 spurt in response to a Warriors' bucket to take a 26-22 lead with 7:22 remaining in the half. Nyack knotted the score at 29-all before a 6-0 Clippers' run pushed the advantage up to 35-29 with 2:06 remaining in the quarter. A 4-1 stretch for the visitors made it a one-possession contest at 36-33, with a late Concordia layup creating a 38-33 halftime score.
• Concordia began the third quarter with back-to-back baskets, sparking a 9-2 stretch to create a double-digit advantage at 47-35 with 4:10 remaining in the quarter. Nyack used a 7-0 rally to make it 47-42 before back-to-back Concordia baskets extended the lead to 51-42 with 1:27 remaining in the stanza. The Warriors ended the frame on a 5-2 run to make it 53-47.
• Nyack scored the opening basket of the final stanza to get within four, with the two sides trading blows over the ensuing 32 points to maintain the four-point lead before a 4-0 Concordia run pushed Concordia ahead 65-57 with 4:08 remaining in the contest. The Warriors rallied to get within two at 68-66 with 49 seconds left before a Bacaliu triple with 21 seconds left ending the run. Concordia added a free throw to its total, while the Warriors scored a late layup to create the final score.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The Clippers converted on 27-62 shots, going 6-13 from distance and 12-30 from the free throw line.
• Nyack went 25-57 from the field, 5-14 from beyond the arc and 13-18 from the free throw line.
• The Clippers recorded 22 assists while Nyack had 13.
• Concordia held a 40-37 advantage in rebounds.
• Concordia committed 17 turnovers, resulting in 13 points for Nyack. The visitor had 22 turnovers, leading to 25 points.
• Concordia recorded six steals with three blocks while the Warriors had nine steals with three blocks.
• Concordia got 23 points from its bench while Nyack got 12.
UP NEXT
The women's basketball team welcomes Felician University for its final home game of the season on Saturday, Feb. 22 with tip-off set for 1 p.m.
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