Sears, Williams Carry Women's Basketball By Molloy in Overtime, 64-57

2/26/2014 10:58:00 PM

Box Score

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Feb. 26, 2014) - The LIU Post women's basketball team captured the East Coast Conference regular-season title Wednesday evening with a 64-57 overtime win against Molloy at the Pratt Recreation Center in Brookville, N.Y.

With the victory, the Pioneers (20-5, 17-2 ECC) extended their season-high winning streak to eight games and secured their spot atop the conference standings.

The Lions (14-12, 11-8 ECC) opened the game on a 6-2 spurt as the two teams traded buckets for most of the opening stanza. With the hosts trailing 21-18 just over four minutes before halftime, Molloy got a lay-up from Megan Lonergan and a jumper from Alexia O'Connor to extend its advantage to 25-18. Yet, LIU Post netted the half's final five points, but trailed 27-25 at the break.

The Pioneers struggled offensively in the first half as Molloy was able to out-score the Pioneers in the paint, 18-12. However, the hosts grabbed 10 offensive rebounds on their way to a 12-4 advantage in second chance points. Junior guard Chelsea Williams (Copiague, N.Y.) was the lone Pioneer in double figures in the first 20 minutes.

Molloy came out shooting to start the second half as Kelly Guerriero drained a three just 11 seconds into the half and hit a jumper just 40 seconds later to extend the Lions' lead to 32-25. Later in the action, with LIU Post trailing 35-29, the Pioneers rattled off 14 straight points to go in front (43-35) at the 10:27 mark. Senior forward Shayna Gatling (Baldwin, N.Y) paced LIU Post during the spurt with six points. Fellow senior Alexis Peters (Dorchester, Mass) added four, while sophomore center Nyasia Davis (Rahway, N.Y.) and Williams chipped in two points each.

The Lions answered with a 12-0 run of their own to retake the lead at 47-43. Not to be outdone, the hosts responded with a short 6-0 burst to go ahead by two (49-47) with just under a minute left in regulation. In the waning seconds, Peters hit one of two free throws to give the Pioneers a 50-48 edge, but Sabrina Padro went coast-to-coast and hit a lay-up with eight ticks left to send the game into overtime.

In the extra session, Williams and senior guard Kiki Sears (Hampton, Va.) led the Pioneers with six points each, as Sears drained two huge threes to keep the hosts ahead of Molloy. With LIU Post leading 60-56, Williams hit four straight free throws to seal the win.

Williams finished with a game-high 24 points and hauled in 10 rebounds. Peters contributed 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Gatling amassed 13 points and 10 boards. Sears chipped in eight points, six coming in the overtime session.

Head Coach Deirdre Moore and the Pioneers return to action on Saturday (Mar. 1) for their final regular-season game before the conference tournament. LIU Post will head to Flushing, N.Y. to take on Queens. The opening tip is slated for 3:30 p.m.