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Road Wins Propel Robert Morris & St. Francis Brooklyn to NEC Women's Basketball Title Game

3/11/2015

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The road to the NEC Women's Basketball Tournament final came on the road for defending NEC champion Robert Morris and St. Francis Brooklyn.  The third-seeded Colonials earned the opportunity to defend their tourney crown by holding off a second half Bryant rally to down the second-seeded Bulldogs, 68-62, in Smithfield, RI.  But the real drama of the night came in New Britain, CT where fifth-seeded SFBK ousted top-seeded Central Connecticut, 71-63, in a double overtime thriller.  The Blue Devils sent the game to overtime on a Tejahne Malone three-pointer with .6 seconds left in regulation, and had a chance to win on the final possession of the first overtime before the Terriers pulled away in the second extra session.  SFBK advances to its first-ever NEC championship game, and will head to RMU for Sunday's 1:00 pm tipoff on ESPNU and ESPN3.

 
 
SUNDAY3.8.15QUARTERFINALSCAMPUS SITES@ HIGHER SEEDS
QF
#1 CCSU 72
#8 LIU Brooklyn 51 FINAL Box | Recap
QF
#2 Bryant 76
#7 Mount St. Mary's 54 FINAL Box | Recap
QF
#3 Robert Morris 89
#6 Fairleigh Dickinson 61 FINAL Box | Recap
QF
#4 Sacred Heart 59
#5 St. Francis Brooklyn 77 FINAL Box | Recap
WEDNESDAY  3.11.15  SEMIFINALS CAMPUS SITES@ HIGHER SEEDS
SF
#1 CCSU 63
#5 St. Francis Brooklyn 71 FINAL (2OT) Box | Recap | Highlights 
Press Conferences
SF
#2 Bryant 62
#3 Robert Morris 68 FINAL Box | Recap | Highlights
SUNDAY  3.15.15  CHAMPIONSHIP@ HIGHER SEED
CH
  #3 Robert Morris
 #5 St. Francis Brooklyn 1 pm (ESPNU, ESPN3) Watch Live | Live Stats
         
  
#5 St. Francis Brooklyn 71, #1 Central Connecticut 63
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New Britain, CT -- The top seed Central Connecticut women's basketball team lost a dramatic home game in the semifinals of the Northeast Conference Tournament on Wednesday night, falling 71-63 to St. Francis Brooklyn in double overtime.

With the loss the Blue Devils are now 19-12 overall and will advance to the WNIT Postseason Tournament against an opponent to be announced on Monday night.

The Terriers improve to 14-18 overall with the victory and advance to the NEC title game at Robert Morris on Sunday at 1 p.m.  The title game appearance is the first for St. Francis Brooklyn.

The Blue Devils never led in the game, but sent the game to overtime in dramatic fashion as time expired.  Central trailed by as many as 10 in the second half with 10:37 remaining but ended the game on an 18-8 run to force overtime with the score tied 54-54.

With 0.6 seconds on the clock the Blue Devils had one last chance in regulation, down by three, 54-51.  Senior Kaley Watras found junior Tejahne Malone on a cross court inbound pass and Malone drilled the three-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime.  The three was just the second career long ball for Malone, who finished with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Each team would manage only five points in the first overtime and they woudl play a second overtime period.  The Terriers, who made 23-of-27 from the line on the night, hit 12-of-14 from the line in the two overtime periods to seal the victory.

"It was a great game that was close the entire way," said SFBK head coach John Thurston. "I thought it was a great show for Northeast Conference women's basketball with a double-overtime game, and big shot after big shot. I am proud of our team because it is easy to get demoralized at the end of regulation. I was most happy with the way we responded from that. You really have to stress scoring first in overtime, and we were able to score first in both overtimes."

Central held a 49-41 advantage on the boards, including the double-double by Malone, her ninth of the season.  Senior Amanda Harrington added 15 points and 11 boards for her fourth double-double of the year.

St. Francis Brooklyn had three players record double-doubles, led by Jaymee Veney's game-high 24 points and 1 boards.  Leah Fechko added 14 points and 11 rebounds while Eilidh Simpson added 11 points and 11 boards.

Neither team shot well from the floor in the game, and the two teams combined for 36 turnovers in the game.  Central was 6-of-16 from three while the Terriers hit on just 6-of-25.

St. Francis advances to play at Robert Morris in the title game on Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPNU.  The Blue Devils will await their fate in the WNIT.

St. Francis Brooklyn Head Coach John Thurston

“It's hard to gather your thoughts now.  First of all I thought it was a great game it was close the whole way. I thought it was a great show for the NEC and for women's basketball to have a double overtime game with shot after shot of big shots and big plays.  I was proud of my team because you could be demoralized at the end of regulation, after the one girl who I said if we let anyone shoot it, let her shoot it, because she hasn't taken many in her career. But what I was most happy with was the way we reacted to that.”

“I always believe that you really have to stress scoring first in overtime and we scored first in the first overtime and in the second overtime.  I can't say enough about our seniors playing with poise.”

“This was a great environment, my hat's off to the Central people for creating a great environment for the game. It was loud, fans were screaming the whole game, it was just great. I wish I was in the stands watching it rather than standing on the sidelines screaming my head off, but it was a great game to watch with really good players.”

“The one thing I will say is they are so well coached that they make plays that other teams don't make and that's what you always have to be aware of when you are playing Central. They play a special style of basketball that without a big scorer they can beat you in so many ways. They are a great defensive team and I love Beryl because she is so passionate about her team.”

CCSU Head Coach Beryl Piper
 
“It's really tough to lose a game like that. It was an unbelievable game, both teams played really hard and our kids battled right to the end. We were down five and tied it to go into overtime and then battled back to go into the second overtime our kids played so hard.  We are really, really proud of how hard they fought.  Basketball is a crazy game sometimes and this was one of those games where it seemed like all of the bounces went their way. We had to battle for everything we had and it was just one of those really tough games.”

“They have five seniors, four who start and they have three kids with double-doubles. We talked about them fighting for their lives because if they lost their season would be over and that we had to fight harder than them and we fought really, really hard, but they played really, really well so therefore they are moving on and we are not.”

“These kids believe, they believe in themselves.  I don't think at any point they thought the game was over. During timeouts they were talking about fighting and we got this and just hang around.”

On 0.6 seconds left talk in huddle
“They denied Nicole (Ferguson) on the play we drew up and then T.J. (Malone) just popped out and Kaley (Watras) made a really nice pass and found T.J. for the shot. It's funny because we shoot threes in practice and TJ doesn't think she can make threes but she doesn't shoot them that bad and she's a pretty tough kid and has that will to win and she made that big play and it was awesome.”

Senior Amanda Harrington on WNIT

"I don't think it will be hard (to get up for the game). I think we will have drive, especially after this game we are definitely going to want to tough and just go all out."


#3 Robert Morris 68, #2 Bryant 62
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Smithfield, RI -- The Robert Morris University women’s basketball team held off a tough Bryant Bulldog team, 68-62, Wednesday night in the semifinal round of the 2015 Northeast Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament presented by NRG Home Solar at Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, R.I.. The win gives the Colonials a shot at its second consecutive NEC Championship and their fourth in the last nine seasons.

Robert Morris will host St. Francis Brooklyn in the NEC Championship game Sunday, March 15, in a 1:00 p.m. game at the Charles L. Sewall Center. The Terriers earned their chance to dance with a 71-62 win over top seed Central Connecticut State Wednesday night.

Rebeca Navarro led the Colonials with 17 points going 7-of-11 overall and nailing 3-of-6 from three-point range. Anna Niki Stamolamprou added 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting and added six rebounds and four assists to her game numbers.

“It was a hard fought battle, no question about it,” said 12th year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. “I was a little concerned, and am still concerned a little bit, about the youth of our program. We only have one junior that plays a bunch of minutes and Jolie Olingende, a senior, has played more lately, but other than that, we’re more freshmen and sophomore oriented.

“I’m very proud of how, even without that experience, they came together and hung through that adversity at the end and hit some key shots. Really proud of our kids, but our goal, just like every other team’s goal, is to get to the NCAA Tournament and we have one more game to go to accomplish that“

The Colonials started the game with a three-pointer by Ravelli on the team’s first possession and baskets by Smith and Stamolamprou quickly put the Colonials on top, 7-0. Bryant responded with a 7-0 surge and cut the Robert Morris lead to one-point, 15-14, when Tiersa Winder connected from long range.

Navarro stopped the Bulldogs push with a three-pointer, triggering a 16-4 run over the next 7:20. Five different players scored for the Colonials. Meanwhile, they held Bryant to 2-14 shooting during that same time frame, stretching a one-point lead to a 13-point advantage on Ravelli’s second trey of the opening half. RMU shot 52 percent in the first half to carry a 34-20 lead into the break.

A three-pointer by Breanna Rucker, the NEC Player of the Year, trimmed the Robert Morris lead to eight points with just under 14 minutes to play. Navarro once again had the answer, a three-pointer from the left wing was followed by a traditional three-point play by Mikalah Mulrain that put the Colonials back in front by 14 points.

Midway through the half, however, the Bulldogs turned up the defensive pressure. Their trapping press forced RMU into seven turnovers over an eight minute span. Bryant took advantage with a 18-6 run that made it a three-point game, 55-52, with 3:25 to play.

A pair of shot clock beating jumpers by Stamolamprou on the next two possessions, including an NBA-range three-pointer, put the Colonials back in front by eight points. The Bulldogs cut the RMU lead to four points on a Dani Anderson three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining, but a pair of freebies by Megan Smith with three seconds left iced the game.

The Colonials overcame 22 turnovers with red hot shooting. RMU converted on 51 percent (26-51) of its shots including 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from three-point range. Robert Morris also owned a 38-34 rebounding advantage against a Bryant team that came into the game with the best rebounding margin in the conference.

Bryant had four players with double-digit point totals led by Jenniqua Bailey’s 18 points. Rucker added 14 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Morgan Olander and Tiersa Winder each had 10 points.

Bryant Head Coach Mary Burke
 
Opening Statement
"Unfortunately we’re very disappointed, I think as a team we worked very hard to earn a playoff home game… and unfortunately fell short. I think we started off the game a little bit on our heels, we had trouble scoring… and then tried to scrap back at the end which is something we’ve tried to do all season but when you get down against a team like this with as many weapons… it’s just really hard to overcome. We came close but just not close enough."

Robert Morris Head Coach Sal Buscaglia
 
Opening Statement
"It was a hard fought battle, no question about it. I was really concerned and still in concern about the youth of our team. We only have one junior that really plays a lot and Jolie who has been giving us some good minutes as a senior… other than that we’re more freshman and sophomore oriented so we don’t have a lot of kids with a lot of experience, I was really concerned with that.. But I was very proud that even without that experience how they came together and had adversity at the end there… we hung through and hit some key shots especially that Anna Niki’s 3-pointer from another planet was really a key shot. I’m really proud of the kids but our goal as every team’s goal is not to get to the semifinals but to get to the NCAA’s… so we got one more game to do that and we know whomever we play its going to be a very tough opponent."