Women's Basketball Looks to Bounce Back Against NYIT on Tuesday
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Dec. 5, 2011) – The C.W. Post women's basketball team will be taking to the short trip down Northern Boulevard to face the New York Institute of Technology in a conference game Tuesday Night. This will mark the second conference game of the season for the Pioneers.
C.W. Post has not played since last Wednesday, Nov. 30, when the team dropped a close 70-69 overtime decision to Dowling, snapping a five-game winning streak. The loss brings the Pioneers' record to 5-2 overall and 0-1 after the first conference game of the year. The Golden Lions nailed a three with about 1:22 left in overtime that eventually proved to be the game winner as neither team put another point on the scoreboard from that point on.
Senior
Felicia Joyner (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) led the way with 17 points to go with three assists for C.W. Post while junior
Ashley Caggiano (Holtsville, N.Y.) contributed 13 points, four assists, and six rebounds in the effort.
Through seven games played this year, the women's basketball squad is averaging 76 points per game, one of the better scoring offenses in the conference. The team has been able to move the ball well as a team to help the scoring offense as the team has averaged 16.7 assists per game. C.W. Post has also outscored its opponents by an average of 9.4 points per game while shooting 74.4 percent from the charity stripe and has become one of the better rebounding teams in the conference with 44.6 boards a game.
Joyner has continued to lead the team in scoring with 17.4 points per game average. She has also been one of the leaders in minutes in the conference with 34.3 minutes a game.
Nicolette Marciniak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) is also off to a solid start, averaging close to double-double numbers with 9.4 points a game and 9.1 rebounds, with the latter being one of the top averages in the conference. She is also averaging exactly one block a game to hold down the back line of defense for the Pioneers.
The backcourt combination of Caggiano and
Kenyatta Sears (Hampton, Va.) has been vital to the balance and distribution the Pioneer offense has seen thus far. Caggiano is leading the team in dishes with 5.5 assists a game, while Sears has put together 3.6 assists per to go along with a 93.8 free throw percentage as she has only missed one free throw through seven games.
NYIT will be the host Tuesday evening, as the Bears are off to a 3-3 start and this contest will be the first conference game of the year for the team. The Bears are coming off a win last Monday, Nov. 28, over Dominican, 63-42. Freshman Amber Davis came off the bench to put in a game-high 16 points while also notching three steals on the defensive end. Senior Cierra Baker also had a strong stat line, putting together 11 points, six rebounds, and five steals.
As a team, the Bears are averaging 67.8 points per game while playing strong defense with 11.5 steals per game to through six games played. The team has used the steal per game average to help influence a positive 9.00 turnover margin over opponents, forcing other teams to commit an average of 23.5 turnovers a game.
Baker, named the Co-Player of the Week in the ECC during the second week of the season, is off an excellent start to her senior campaign. She is currently leading the team in scoring (18.5 points per game), rebounds (9.5 per game), and steals (4.67 per game). The senior forward is coming off a year in which she was named to the ECC All-Conference First Team.
Nikki Jo Rotolo also figures into double-figure scoring numbers for NYIT, putting forth 12.2 points per game effort thus far. She is also distributing the ball well with 3.5 assists per game. Rebecca Lynch has only played in three games for the Bears, however, has been strong in those appearances with averages of 10.3 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. on the campus of NYIT, and then both men's teams will follow the women on Wednesday night for a conference game.