By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director
UTICA, N.Y.— There was a moment during Sunday's North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) women's basketball championship game when it looked as if the Keuka College Storm might have run out of magic.
For the third straight NEAC playoff game, the members of the Storm found themselves trailing by double-digits against a quality opponent, SUNYIT, the conference's regular-season champions.
Keuka, the defending NEAC champions, started fast in its quest for a repeat championship, but the Storm trailed 37-22 after the Wildcats went on a big 16-1 run late in the half.
Then sophomore Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches), the eventual Tournament MVP, took over. The guard hit back-to-back three-pointers late in the half and buried a half-court heave that beat the buzzer to give the Storm momentum heading into the second half down only 39-35.
Keuka (19-5) would go on a 19-2 run bridging the two halves and went on to defeat SUNYIT (22-5) for the third time during the 2011-12 season, winning 66-63 to earn the school's third appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament in the last five years.
Bandrowski finished with a career-high 30 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while classmate Taylor Szwec (Candor, NY/Candor) knocked down two big '3s' and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds as the Storm rallied from another big deficit.
The Storm is the only NEAC team to defeat the Wildcats this year, having previously won 68-60 at SUNYIT on Jan. 28 and 62-60 at home on Feb. 11.
"We're playing our best basketball at the right time," said Bandrowski, a second-team All-NEAC pick who scored 46 points with 16 assists, 13 rebounds and 11 steals over three tournament games to earn MVP honors.
"I tried my best and I knew that this was our game and we had to win this. My shots weren't on the past couple of games, but I knew that I could come out strong in this game and pick it up for my team and that's exactly what I did. This is such a great feeling!"
Junior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) made a clutch layup to snap a 58-all game and finished with nine points and eight rebounds while sophomore Casey Chamberlain (Perry, NY/Perry) added 13 rebounds as the Storm enjoyed a 50-42 edge on the glass.
The championship wasn't decided until the final possession. Leading 49-48, Szwec and Bandrowski each drove the lane and finished their layups and Bandrowski made a pair of free throws for a 55-48 lead.
SUNYIT answered with a 10-2 run, capped by a '3' from Lyndsey Brognano (17 points), the NEAC's Player of the Year, to take a 58-57 lead.
After Szwec knocked down a three-pointer with 2:52 remaining, Keuka led 63-61. Szwec then went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line and Chamberlain made a free throw to put the Storm up 65-61.
SUNYIT's Kayla McNeil (19 points, 11 rebounds) hit a jumper with 46 seconds left to trim Keuka's lead to 65-63, but following an offensive rebound from Szwec, Bandrowski swished a free throw for a 66-63 lead. Following a SUNYIT timeout, the Storm defense forced the Wildcats into a difficult three-point shot that missed the mark, sending the Storm into a frenzied celebration.
"We're so excited, this is great and it shows the strength of our team that we're able to rally for these big wins," Szwec said. "We trust each other now and we've overcome so much adversity, this is a huge win. We're peaking at the right time, for sure. This [making NCAA's] has always been a goal for us, and another goal now is to win an NCAA game, which would be the first in school history."
Keuka will have to wait until 2:30 p.m. on Monday, when the NCAA has its Division III selection show, to learn its first-round opponent, date and location. Last year, Keuka fell to William Paterson (N.J.) University 81-47 in the first round. Be sure to check back Monday afternoon for a story outlining Keuka's NCAA first round opponent.
The Storm started fast versus SUNYIT, as Bandrowski made three '3s' and sophomore Danielle Gravel (Sidney, NY/Sidney) added a triple as Keuka jumped out to a 12-2 lead four minutes in.
Then it was SUNYIT's turn to make a run, as the Wildcats used a 15-4 spurt to take a 17-16 lead when Brognano hit a free throw for a 17-16 lead with 12:33 remaining. It was SUNYIT's first lead of the championship, but not the Wildcats' last lead.
After freshman Brittany Hadley (Jasper, NY/Jasper-Troupsburg) scored back-to-back buckets, SUNYIT went on a 16-1 run to take a 37-22 lead, the third straight NEAC playoff game where Keuka trailed by at least 14 points.
The Cardiac Kids from Keuka did it again at the end of the first half. The Storm closed out the half on a 13-2 run as Bandrowski hit back-to-back treys and Szwec hit a pair of free throws.
Trailing 39-32, and with the clock winding down, Bandrowski took the inbounds pass, reached midcourt and heaved a half-court shot that beat the buzzer to pull Keuka within 39-35 in a play that gave Keuka some much-needed momentum heading into halftime.
Bandrowski scored 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 6-of-8 from three-point range, to keep the Storm close in the first half.
"I definitely didn't think the shot was going to go in," a smiling Bandrowski said after the game while clutching her MVP trophy.
"That was a huge lift for us and we all knew we had a chance to complete the comeback. We're a strong team and we have confidence in ourselves and we're going to just keep on fighting and try our best to win it all."
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