No. 11 Dowling Trips Up Women's Basketball, 58-55
Box Score
OAKDALE, N.Y. (March 8, 2013) – The LIU Post women's basketball team dropped a nail-biter in the East Coast Conference semifinal game to No. 11 Dowling College Friday evening. After the Pioneers held the lead for most of the game, Dowling closed out with a 9-0 run to secure the 58-55 victory.
With the loss, LIU Post slips to 19-9 on the season, while Dowling improves to 24-3 and advances to the ECC championship game.
The Pioneers stormed out of the gates scoring six unanswered points to open up the first half behind a layup from
Alexis Peters (Dorchester, Mass.) and two from
Kenyatta Sears (Hampton, Va.). The Golden Lions held their first lead of the game when Koppl converted a non-traditional three-point play to bring the score to 12-10. An
Ashley Caggiano (Holtsville, N.Y.) trey with 14:38 remaining put the Pioneers back on top; a lead they would not relinquish until another Kopl three-point play gave Dowling the lead with 3:22 to play. With 41 seconds until the half, Peters hit a layup off a feed from
Shayna Gatling (Baldwin, N.Y.) to grab the lead back in favor of the Pioneers. The scoreboard read 31-30 in favor of the visitors as they headed into the intermission.
A Peters' pass into
Nicolette Marciniak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in the paint resulted in a layup bringing the score to 40-39 and giving LIU Post its first lead of the second half at the 12:47 mark. The Pioneers held that lead until there was less than two minutes to play. With 1:53 left to play, the Pioneers held a six point lead with the score at 55-49, but a three-point shot by Dowling's Verrelle cut the lead to three with 1:37 left in the game. A few ticks of the clock later, Dowling's Kopl was fouled while attempting a three-point shot and drained all three of the ensuing free throw attempts to tie the game with less than a minute to play. Three more foul shots by the Golden Lions over the final 20 seconds of play sealed the three-point victory.
The Pioneer defense held the ECC Player of the Year Danielle Wilson to a season low three points, and the rest of the Dowling offense to a mere 36.7% (18-49) from the field. Dowling won the game with free-throws, converting on 18-24 while the Pioneers only made the trip 10 times while making six.
Peters led all players in the game with 16 points and three assists, while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. Marciniak chipped in 11 points and five boards. Connie Simmons led four Golden Lions in double figures with 15 points while Kopple and Seja Gamble added 12 apiece.