Women's Basketball Falls To Unbeaten NYIT, 74-62

1/19/2013 5:35:00 PM

Box Score
OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Jan. 19, 2013) – The LIU Post women's basketball held a lead with five minutes to play in the game, but the New York Institute of Technology dominated the final five minutes outscoring the Pioneers 19-6 to secure their 74-62 win Saturday afternoon.

NYIT remains unbeaten at 15-0 and 7-0 in ECC action, while LIU Post slips to 11-4 and 4-3 in conference play.

During the first half, the Pioneers did not see their first lead of the game until 12 minutes had passed and the score was 16-15.  A few seconds later the Bears would regain the lead which they retained for the remainder of the half, leading by as many as 11 points on two occasions.  With four seconds remaining, junior Alexis Peters (Dorchester, Mass.) drained a jumper in the paint to cut NYIT's lead to 34-26 going into the intermission.  The Pioneers were able to keep the game within reach due to their action on the glass, out-rebounding the Bears 28-17 including 15 offensive rebounds that led to 14 second chance points.  Peters led LIU Post's offense in the first half, scoring eight points and was one of three Pioneers to bring down four rebounds in the half.  NYIT's Demitra Apergis and Rebecca Romeo scored nine points each in the half.

Senior Nicolette Marciniak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) sunk a jumper and 30 seconds later Peters finished a fast-break layup off a feed from Samantha Kopp (Franklinville, N.Y.) to bring the Pioneers to within four to open the second half.  Shortly after, an eight-point LIU Post run would tie the game for the second time at 38-all with the Pioneers holding the lead for next five and a half minutes until a Nikki Jo Rotolo layup would tie the game at 48-48.  The next few minutes saw back-and-forth play with a few more ties and the lead changing between the two squads until the Bears took the lead for good on a Rebecca Lynch layup with 4:33 remaining in the game.  The Pioneers were only able to muster six points in the closing minutes, falling to NYIT 74-62. 

Peters finished the game with 18 points, seven rebounds, and four steals.  Sophomore Chelsea Williams (Copiague, N.Y.) was the only other Pioneer to reach double figures, registering 14 points and seven rebounds.  Kopp and Marciniak were leaders on the boards, pulling down 12 and 10, respectively, while Nijah LaCourt (Brooklyn, N.Y.) grabbed an impressive nine rebounds in just 15 minutes of play.

Rebecca Lynch finished with 20 points as she was one of four Bears to finish with a double digit points total.

The Pioneers return to action Wednesday, Jan. 23 as they head to Sparkill, N.Y. to face-off against Saint Thomas Aquinas College for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.