ALBANY, NY (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) - The SUNY College at Old Westbury women's basketball team earned the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Skyline Conference Championship Tournament after defeating the Sage Gators 65-59 on Saturday in Albany, New York. Old Westbury (16-9) improved to 10-4 in conference action and will now travel to take on No. 2 seeded Purchase Panthers on Thursday evening in Purchase, New York. Sage (8-16) misses out on the tournament and fell to 5-9 in conference play.
DeAndra Scott erupted for 14 of her game-high 25 points in the first-half as Old Westbury took a 35-27 lead into the break. Old Westbury used a 22-7 run to close out the final 8:58 of the half after trailing by as many as seven points. Old Westbury jumped ahead early on with a quick 4-0 lead off a pair of layups by Abigail Williams. Sage answered by scoring 20 of the next 29 points to take a 20-13 lead with 9:50 remaining.
Old Westbury roared out of the second-half gates with a 13-5 run to create a 16 point cushion with 15:31 left on the clock. The Gators answered by slicing the deficit to four points with a 17-5 run from 13:10 to 4:45. Scott poured in five of Old Westbury's next eight points to make it a 63-54 game with 2:27 showing on the clock.
Scott used game-highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds to record her 14th double-double of the season. She hit 7-of-14 from the field and 11-of-13 from the free-throw line. Clarissa Gallagher followed with 11 points, eight rebounds (career-high) and three steals. Antoinette Jolly added four assists and four steals while Raven Price tallied eight points and six rebounds off the bench.
Lea McClain paced Sage with 17 points and five assists while Megan Bowman contributed 14 points and three steals.
Old Westbury shot 34.6 percent from the field (18-52), 22.2 percent from three-point range (2-9) and knocked down a season-best 27 free-throws on 71.1 percent from the charity stripe. Sage connected on 35.6 percent from the floor (21-59), 15.8 percent from beyond the arc (3-19) and 70 percent from the line (14-20). Old Westbury won the boards battle, 45-35, scoring 20 second chance points off 16 offensive rebounds. Old Westbury also converted 24 Sage turnovers into 17 points.
"BATTLE OF THE SUNY PANTHERS" - SKYLINE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT STYLE UP NEXT FOR OLD WESTBURY: Old Westbury returns to action on Thursday (Feb. 21) for the semifinal round of the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament on the road against the Purchase Panthers in Purchase, New York at 6 p.m.
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