Courtyard by Marriott Tournament at Wesleyan University Results
Middletown, Conn. -- In the second game of the Wesleyan Courtyard by Marriott Tournament, St. Joseph's-Long Island (4-1) shook off a pesky Mitchell College (0-5) women's squad in the final eight minutes of the game for a 74-66 win.
St. Joseph's earned a spot against host Wesleyan University in Saturday's championship game at 3:30 p.m. Mitchell will meet Johnson & Wales University in the consolation game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
St. Joseph's overcame a 10-point deficit in the first half to forge a 33-33 deadlock at intermission. The Golden Eagles then went ahead by 10, 57-47, with 10 minutes to go, but the Mariners ran off nine straight points to make it 57-56 with eight minutes left.
A pair of baskets from Amanda Bender (East Northport, N.Y./Northport), who finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, along with three-pointers from Laura Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) and Danielle Hamlin (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach) triggered a 10-2 Golden Eagle stretch that spotted St. Joseph's a 67-58 margin with six minutes on the clock. Mitchell got no closer than five the rest of the way.
Joining Bender in double digits was Cohen with 20 while her twin sister Christina Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) chipped in with 10 points and seven steals. Hamlin had 11 points along with eight rebounds. St. Joseph's attempted 36 treys in the contest, making nine, as Hamlin was 3-for-7 to lead in that department.
Mitchell was led by senior Kaylee Cerruto with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Freshman Diamond Thomas tossed in 15 points and classmate Amanda Garcia contributed 14 points and nine rebounds.
In the tournament's opening game, Wesleyan extended a 25-19 lead with five minutes remaining in the first half into a 37-21 halftime edge over Johnson & Wales with a decisive 12-2 run. The Cardinals never let the lead fall below double-digits in the second half on its way to a 65-48 victory. The 12-2 burst started with a three-pointer by Jackie Browne, followed by a traditional three-point play from Kendra Harris. After a basket by KellyAnn Rooney made it 33-20, Cherkira Lashley tossed in a pair of buckets to cap the run for the 37-21 advantage.
The lead grew as large as 20 (45-25) early in the second half before the Wildcats cut the difference to 10 at 51-41 with seven minutes remaining. But the Cardinals scored on four of their next five possessions while JWU managed just a free throw as the lead pushed back to 17 at 59-42.
Wesleyan got 14 points from Amber Wessells, who also had four assists and three steals, and 10 points each from Rooney and Harris. Jess Cherenza added nine points and a game-high nine rebounds to the Wesleyan cause. Game scoring honors went to the Wildcats Jenna Juron with 17 points while Marina Milliain had eight points and five boards.