Waltham, Mass. – After making history by earning two postseason victories in the NCAA East Region tournament, the NYIT women's basketball team made it's first-ever appearance in a regional championship game, pitted against top-seeded Bentley, Monday night. After being up ten-points at the half, the Bears ended their Cinderella story with a 79-74 final decision at the Dana Center to conclude the season at 26-9, with a new program record for wins.
Despite the loss, Ragab topped all players with 29 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks and earned inclusion on the 2016 All-Tournament team. Also being named to the list for her performance was Nina Vukosavljevic who finished the contest with 22 points and five assists. Tournament MVP Jen Gemma of Bentley led all players of the top-seed with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
The first tie of the game occurred at 2-2 on the opening baskets from either team but NYIT pulled away committing an 8-0 run to take the lead and force Head Coach Barbara Stevens to call a timeout. The lead for the Blue and Gold was maintained as Bentley shot just 35 percent from the field in the first quarter. At the 1:48 mark, Ragab shot a jumper giving the sixth seed a ten-point cushion and Tiara Place went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to conclude the quarter and lead 26-14.
Bentley's Lauren Green came out of the media timeout to knock down a three-pointer to cut the deficit to six but the Bears came back with a tre and a layup of their own to keep the Falcons at bay in the second. Turnovers from NYIT led to four straight points for the top seed, bringing them the closest they'd been since the start of the contest. However, to end the quarter, the Bears scored six unanswered points to regain the 10-point advantage as the teams broke for the locker rooms.
To open the second half, the hosts broke out an 11-4 run to come within one and then took the lead back at the 4:33 mark on a layup from Macchi Smith. At the first called media timeout in the third, the underdogs held a one-point advantage over Bentley, but ultimately the Falcons outscored the Bears 27-11 to lead by six.
Entering the final frame, NYIT scored six quick points to the hosts two to come within two, but the top-seeded Falcons were not missing from three-point range. Vukosavljevic knocked down a three of her own at the 6:18 mark and added another two to lead into the second media timeout of the but the Blue and Gold still trailed by three. After the four-minute mark, Bentley began to pull away, despite NYIT coming within three on a layup by Ragab at 22 seconds.
The Bears conclude their season at 26-9 overall and set a program record with two postseason NCAA victories in the East Region Tournament.
Provided by the NYIT Sports Information Department.
