Buffalo, NY - The D'Youville Women's Basketball Team lost some post-season momentum on Saturday afternoon as they lost a close game to the Mount Aloysius Mounties by the final score of 72-68.
Both offenses came out of the gate slow, with the game 8-6 Mount Aloysius through the first 5 minutes of play. The Mounties outscored D'Youville 11-4 in the next three and a half minutes, but D'Youville then made a run of their own. Down 19-10 at the 11:26 mark in the first, the Spartans went on an 18-3 run that spanned over 4 minutes and took control of the game with the score 28-22. During that run, Amanda Marcely (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) had 10 of the 18 points.Bridget Andrews (Amherst, NY/Sacred Heart Academy) and Jean-Ann Korona (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) scored the other 8 points, including back-to-back three-pointers with Awilda Murphy (Kenmore, NY/Sacred Heart Academy) picking up the assists.
After Mount Aloysius scored a basket to make the score 28-24, Casey Bartels (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) hit a third three-pointer in 5 possessions, giving D'Youville a 31-24 lead with 5:33 remaining in the first half. Four straight points from Marcely coupled with another Andrews three-pointer gave the Spartans a 9 point lead with just under 4 minutes remaining in the half. The Mounties closed the gap after a Jillian Piniewski (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca) layup to finish the half down 5 with the score 40-35 D'Youville.
The visiting Mounties came out hot on offense, scoring on 5 of their 6 first possessions, which resulted in them taking a 47-43 lead. Jean-Ann Korona converted an and-one opportunity for D'Youville, tying the game at 48 with 5:12 elapsed in the second half, but Mount Aloysius quickly answered to regain the lead on a layup. The Spartans fought to regain the lead for the next several minutes, and finally tied the game after an Amanda Marcely and-one.
The Mounties took a three point lead but D'Youville answered right back with back-to-back threes from Korona and Murphy. Mount Aloysius then scored 7 points to take the lead at 70-66 with with :18 seconds remaining. Marcely would score a layup with :05 second left in regulation but it would be too late as the Mounties won the game by the final of 72-68.
Marcely led D'Youville in scoring and rebounding with 23 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. Jean-Ann Korona contributed a double-double of her own scoring 15 points and bringing in 10 rebounds. Korona also added 4 steals. Bridget Andrews had 11 points and a season high 8 assists.
Awilda Murphy had 4 points and 4 assists to go with her 3 rebounds. Jillian Piniewski scored 7 points and added 4 rebounds. Alexis Smith (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) had 4 points and 3 rebounds but played exceptional defense the whole game. Danette Laguerre (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) played well for the Spartans.
The women will play their next 2 games on the road as they head to Pitt.-Bradford on Wednesday, February 11th to play the Bobcats at 6pm.