Balanced Scoring Leads Women's Basketball Past Queens, 82-69
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (January 5, 2012) – Four Pioneers in double figures helped the LIU Post women's basketball team to an 82-69 victory at the Pratt Recreation Center in the first East Coast Conference matchup of the new year on Saturday.
The Pioneers improve to 9-2 on the season and 3-0 in conference play, while Queens dips to 4-6 on the season and 1-2 in ECC action.
The first half saw a lot of back-and-forth action which was evident in the eight different occasions that the score was tied and a whopping total of 20 lead changes. With a few seconds left in the half,
Jalyn Brown (Riverhead, N.Y.) came up with a steal and passed the ball up court just in time for
Jalicia Connell (Westbury, N.Y.) to drain a jumper at the buzzer to give LIU Post the 40-37 advantage.
Alexis Peters (Dorchester, Mass.) led the Pioneers with 10 points and two steals in the half.
Ashley Caggiano (Holtsville, N.Y.) and
Chelsea Williams (Copiague, N.Y.) chipped in seven apiece. Caggiano also led all players with six assists in the half. Queens' Bria Jackson led all players with 13 points, and Marie Byrnes had 10 points of her own.
The second half saw the Pioneers come out and immediately push out to an 11-point lead courtesy of a quick 6-0 run start the half, putting some distance between themselves and the visitors. The lead hovered around nine points for a few possessions but the Knights were able to battle back and cut the deficit to three (52-49) with 10:55 to play. But the Pioneers responded by seven straight points capped by a fastbreak layup from Connell to senior
Nicolette Marciniak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) that gave the Pioneers a ten-point cushion, 59-49, with 10:03 remaining.
From that point on, the Knights never seriously challenged and the Pioneer offense went to work, ballooning the lead to as many as 17 as they rolled to their fourth straight victory.
Heading up the Pioneers' scoring effort was both Marciniak and Peters, who had 18 points apiece. Marciniak aslo added eight boards while Peters dished out five assists and grabbed three steals. Willimas scored 13 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, while Connell had a strong effort off the bench with 14 points on 5-6 shooting. Caggiano chipped in with nine points and a team-high eight assists.
The Knights were led by Bria Jackson's 21 points and a double-double from Marie Brynes, who had 18 points and 10 boards.
The Pioneers shot 47.6% for the game, and out rebounded Queens 40-33. Both teams were plagued by turnovers as Queens committed 21 and the Pioneers had 19 miscues.
LIU Post continues ECC action with a trip to Roberts Wesleyan and Wednesday, January 9 at 6 p.m.