Old Westbury, N.Y. - With a 78-59 victory
over Bridgeport in the East Coast Conference semifinals, No. 23
NYIT women's basketball team continued to make it a season of
firsts as the Bears will head to the ECC Championship game for the
first time since 2006 and the first time under head coach Anthony
Crocitto. Second-seeded NYIT will face top-seeded No. 11 Dowling at
1 p.m. in Oakdale, N.Y.
"We set a goal at the beginning of the season to win the conference
and make the NCAA Tournament," said Crocitto. "Tonight we rebounded
from three tough and heartbreaking losses to regain confidence in
reaching a chance to make the goal come true. We have won 23 games
and this is far more than we ever could have dreamed. These
student-athletes are certainly creating history and leaving a
legacy."
The Bears were paced by senior Rebecca Lynch (Hillsdale, N.J.), who
posted 21 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior
Demitra Apergis (Littleton, Colo.) added 11 points in the win,
while graduate student Nikki Jo Rotolo (Rome, N.Y.) had nine points
and 10 rebounds. Graduate student Charlene Riddick (Torrington,
Conn.) posted two blocks to break NYIT's single-season blocks
record. She now owns the list with 34 blocks.
"Lynch was a true Bear tonight," said Crocitto. "She was fantastic
at both ends, working defensively and rebounding like crazy. I am
so proud of our bench play. Today we were a team, 14 strong and
unified. Chloe [Johnson], Dina [Ragab], Chantel [Diaz] and Ana
[Komnenovic] looked great filling in off the bench at the center
position. They were strong defensively and on the glass. Demitra
and Sabrinna [Moore] were solid together in running the team and
making plays all around."
For the Purple Knights, Tanisha Carter led the game with 25 points
and tied the game-high 12 rebounds. Aziza Patterson added 14 points
and Priscilla Dodoo chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
NYIT out-shot Bridgeport 40% to 32% from the field and 38% to 22%
from behind the arc. The Bears also led 86% to 59% from the charity
stripe and out-rebounded the Purple Knight 55-39.
Although Bridgeport was the first to score with a three-pointer
from Jenna Hoffman, NYIT quickly rebounded and earned a six-point
lead 11-5 on a layup by Rotolo. The Bears then pushed their lead to
15-points, 27-12, on a layup by Sabrinna Moore (Flushing, N.Y.)
with 8:14 to play. Sixteen of NYIT's 38 points in the first game
were scored in the paint. The Purple Knights found a little
momentum late in the half and cut the gap to seven points, 32-25,
on a jumper from Carter. Yet, the Bears closed out the first stanza
38-28.
Bridgeport continued to pressure NYIT in the opening minutes of the
second half and, with a three-pointer from Dodoo, the Purple
Knights made it a four-point game, 40-36, with 16:56 remaining.
However, NYIT answered with a trey of its own from Rebecca Romeo
(Victoria, Australia) and never looked back. NYIT earned its
largest lead of the game, 23 points, on three occasions. The last
came off free throws from Dina Ragab (Cairo, Egypt). The Bears shot
12-for-12 from the charity stripe in the second half.
Provided by the NYIT Sports Information Department.
