Gatling's 23 Points Leads Women's Basketball Past Mercy 87-51
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Jan. 16, 2013) – Junior
Shayna Gatling (Baldwin, N.Y.) registered a career-high 23 points off the bench to lead the LIU Post women's basketball team to an 87-51 win over East Coast Conference foe Mercy College Wednesday evening in the Pratt Recreation Center. This marks the Pioneers' 15th straight win at home dating back to last season.
The Pioneers improve to 11-3 and 4-2 in conference play, while the Mavericks fall to 0-13 including 0-6 in ECC action.
LIU Post opened up the game on a 14-2 run highlighted by six early points from senior forward
Nicolette Marciniak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and four from senior guard
Ashley Caggiano (Holtsville, N.Y.). The Pioneers held a sizable lead after seven minutes of play with a 27-point advantage (34-7). LIU Post continued to increase its lead, going ahead by as many as 36 points on three different occasions. Going into halftime, the Pioneers held a 54-23 advantage over the Mavericks with 11 different Pioneers scoring at least two points in the half. Leading the way with 10-point efforts were both Marciniak and Gatling. Senior
Samantha Kopp (Franklinville, N.Y.) grabbed eight boards in the half, while freshman guard
Quanisha Ratley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) dished out three assists, and Caggiano had three steals.
The second half proved to be much of the same. The Mavericks showed some life, opening the half on a 15-4 run to cut the lead to 20, but shortly after the Pioneers answered back with 12 unanswered points to expand their lead to 32 (72-40). Gatling scored eight of the 12 points, while
Jalicia Connell (Westbury, N.Y.) drained a trey and a free-throw for the other four points of the run. During the remaining seven minutes of the game, the Pioneers never let their lead diminish to less than 30 points, ending the game with a made free-throw by
Nijah LaCourt (Bronx, N.Y.) to secure their 87-51 win. Gatling once again led the Pioneers in scoring for the half, scoring 13 points. Connell scored seven in the half, while freshman
Jalyn Brown (Riverhead, N.Y.) scored five.
The Pioneers finished the game shooting 51.5% (34-66) from field goal range while holding the Mavericks to a 25.9% (15-58) shooting percentage. The Pioneers held the edge over the Mavericks in rebounding 53-33, assists 23-3, steals 16-6, points in the paint 50-16, fast-break points 18-2, bench points 63-15, and points off turnovers 26-17.
Gatling was the high scorer in the game, registering a career-high 23 points to lead the Pioneers offense. Connell also scored in double-digits off the bench, totaling 12 on the night. Marciniak finished with 10 points, while Brown, LaCourt and Ratley added eight points apiece. LaCourt also grabbed a game-high four steals and 11 rebounds, while Kopp scooped up nine boards of her own.
The Mavericks' Aysha Williams finished the night with a double-double, registering 16 points and 11 rebounds.
The Pioneers will head next door for a Saturday match-up against unbeaten NYIT for a noon tip-off.