Rochester, N.Y. — The NYIT women's basketball team has a date with top-seeded Queens.
The fifth-seeded Bears defeated No. 4 seed Roberts Wesleyan, 80-69, on Wednesday night for their first-ever win at the Voller Athletic Center to advance to the East Coast Conference semifinals.
NYIT had been winless in five trips to Roberts Wesleyan since the Redhawks joined the ECC for the 2012-13 season.
"The senior class just told me they never won on this court," coach Kenneth Parham said. "I'm very happy that now they can say that they actually had the opportunity to do so."
Roberts Wesleyan went 9-2 at home during the 2016-17 regular season. The Redhawks (17-12) also had won both regular-season meetings against NYIT.
Despite dressing only eight players and having Sofia Georgiadi and Nina Vukosavljevic each pick up her fourth foul in a six-second span midway through the fourth quarter, NYIT (17-10) prevailed. Georgiadi fouled out with NYIT leading 68-61 and 4:11 remaining.
"I'm really proud of the young ladies," Parham said. "We were a little under-'womaned,' and they all stepped up. Everyone stepped up and had a good contribution."
The Bears had scored the game's opening nine points and built a 23-6 first-quarter lead. Roberts Wesleyan closed to within 70-67 late, but never led in the game.
Margaret Knollmeyer produced a team-high 19 points, followed by Shanice Allen and Vukosavljevic with 17 points apiece. Knollmeyer, the ECC's five-time Rookie of the Week recipient, also pulled down 23 rebounds. Overall, the Bears produced a season-high 59 rebounds.
"Roberts is a really tough place to play at, so for us to get a win like this, it's amazing, especially at this time — playoffs," Kristen Kelly said. "As we said, it's hard to beat a team three times. We showed them it's not going to happen, and we're coming for rings."
The Bears (17-10) next face No. 1 seed Queens on Saturday at noon in a semifinal matchup at Bridgeport.
"They're the No. 1 team in our conference, for sure," Parham said. "And they're probably No. 1 or No. 2 in the region. They're very good."
Provided by the NYIT Sports Information Department.
