Davis' Double-Double Powers Women's Basketball By UDC, 74-72
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Feb. 6, 2014) - In a battle between the East Coast Conference's top two teams, the LIU Post women's basketball team topped UDC on Thursday, 74-72, at the Pratt Recreation Center in Brookville, N.Y.
The Pioneers (15-5, 12-2 ECC), winners of 11 of their last 14 contests, were led by sophomore center
Nyasia Davis (Rahway, N.J.), who pulled down a career-best 19 rebounds, while scoring 12 to post her first double-double of the season.
The Firebirds (14-4, 10-2 ECC) got off to a hot start, grabbing an early 13-5 lead after Denikka Brent (24 points) hit a lay-up with 12:53 to go in the opening half. Yet, A Davis lay-up sparked a 14-2 response that gave the hosts a 21-15 advantage. Minutes later, sophomore guard
Quanisha Ratley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) came away with a steal and took it the distance for a fast-break lay-up to put LIU Post ahead 27-19. In the final seconds of the first half, Ratley hauled in a rebound and finished at the other end to give LIU Post a 34-27 edge heading into the break.
Davis rounded out the opening half with 14 rebounds and eight points, while junior guard
Chelsea Williams (Copiague, N.Y.) chipped in eight points. The Pioneers outscored the Firebirds, 10-2, in bench points and 15-4 in second-chance points.
In the second half, UDC opened the scoring, but back-to-back three-pointers from Williams extended the Pioneers' lead to 11 (40-29). Just under three minutes into the session, senior forward
Shayna Gatling (Baldwin, N.Y.) netted a lay-up to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the contest at 12 (44-32).
The Firebirds answered with an 18-6 run that was capped by a Brent lay-up, which tied the game at 50-50 with 8:45 left in regulation. Later in the half, Ratley converted a three-point play to put the Pioneers back up by six (68-62) with just over three minutes left. The visitors then answered with five unanswered points to get within one (68-67), but Williams hit six free throws over the last 23 seconds of regulation, the last two with five ticks left on the clock, to seal the win.
Williams finished with 24 points in 35 minutes, while Ratley amassed 14 points, her third-straight game with 10 or more points, and added nine rebounds.
Head Coach
Deirdre Moore and the Pioneers return to action on Wednesday (Feb. 12), when they travel to Bridgeport to take on the Purple Knights in an ECC tilt. The opening tip is scheduled for 5 p.m.