The Keuka College women's basketball team trailed 39-31 five minutes into the second half of Wednesday night's North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) game at Morrisville State, but for the second time in two meetings, the Storm used a huge surge to knock off the Mustangs.
Junior Danielle Gravel (Sidney, NY/Sidney) and freshman Mackenzie Cole (Ogdensburg, NY/Ogdensburg Free Academy) each made a '3' and a layup while junior Casey Chamberlain (Perry, NY/Perry) added four points as the Storm went on a 20-0 run to pull away for their eighth straight conference game, 65-48 in Morrisville, NY.
Gravel scored 17 points on 7 of 13 shooting while classmate Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches), the reigning NEAC and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Upstate Player of the Week, added 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals in the come-from-behind win.
Keuka (14-2, 11-1 NEAC) remains in first place in the NEAC North while sending Morrisville (1-18, 1-10 NEAC) to its sixth straight setback.
Chamberlain added 11 points with seven rebounds while senior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) had 10 points and seven rebounds in the win.
Nijee Scott (13 points) was the only Mustang to score in double-figures. An aggressive Keuka defense limited Morrisville to 19.2 percent shooting in the second half (5-for-26) while outscoring Morrisville 34-9 over the final 15 minutes.
Keuka came out red-hot to start the game, taking an 11-0 lead five minutes in as Bandrowski scored five points, Gravel scored four points and Mouzon had a layup for the Green and Gold.
When Mouzon made a jumper with 12:17 remaining in the opening half, Keuka had a 19-4 lead, but the Mustangs went on a 27-7 run to lead 31-26 heading into halftime.
Chamberlain's lay-in sliced the deficit to 31-28 ninety seconds into the second, but Morrisville traded baskets with Keuka and led 39-31 when Akiella Parks hit a layup with 14:55 remaining.
That's when the Green and Gold offense got on track. Gravel capped the 20-0 spurt with a '3' for a 51-39 lead that caused the Mustangs to call timeout with 7:50 to play.
Keuka, which used a 23-0 second half run during a 65-44 home win over Morrisville on Dec. 5, 2012, breezed to the win to complete the season sweep of the Mustangs.
Cole scored a career-high eight points for Keuka, which shot 48.3 percent (14-for-29) during a 39-point second half.
The Green and Gold host Wilson College at 1 p.m. Saturday and Penn State-Abington at 1 p.m. Sunday before a 6 p.m. Senior Night contest against Cazenovia College on Feb. 6.