The William Smith College basketball team used a late run to secure a 56-53 victory over SUNY Plattsburgh in the first round of the NYU Holiday Classic this afternoon. The Herons trailed 49-45 with under seven minutes remaining but scored the game's next 11 points and held off a late charge by the Cardinals for the win.
Junior guard Jacqueline Murphy matched her career-high with a Holiday Classic record 19 rebounds for William Smith (5-3). She collected 12 caroms before halftime. Despite early foul trouble, sophomore forward Chloe Hayter netted a game-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds. Junior guard Sasha Borenstein drained five 3-pointers for 15 points off the bench and senior guard Jaimie Rubin chipped in 13 points and a team-high four assists.
Tequilla Llyod led Plattsburgh (5-3) with 12 points and seven rebounds. Brooke Reifinger added eight points, six rebounds, a game-high five steals and a game-high three blocked shots.
Catherine Cassidy's 3-pointer at the 6:28 mark of the second half put the Cardinals in front 49-45. Senior guard Sarah O'Brien started the game-winning run with a pair of makes at the free throw line. Over the next five minutes, Plattsburgh went 0-for-8 from the floor and missed a pair of free throws. The Herons, meanwhile, got a 3 from Rubin, a jumper from Hayter, a free throw from junior guard Erin O'Brien, and a 3 from Borenstein to build a 56-49 lead with 1:52 to go.
At the 1:29 mark, Dana Nucaro made two freebies to stop the Cardinals' scoreless streak. Tequilla converted a layup with 52 seconds remaining to make it a 3-point game. Plattsburgh had a chance to tie, giving the final shot of the game to Brittany Marshall, but her 3-pointer was off the mark.
In the first half, the Cardinals scored seven straight points to build the biggest lead of the game for either side, 20-10, at 10:52 mark. William Smith rallied with back-to-back treys by Borenstein and Erin O'Brien followed by four straight points from Hayter to tie the game. Senior guard Sydni Salvatore made a layup to close out a 12-0 Heron run and give her team a 22-20 lead.
Plattsburgh scored the final 4 points of the half to carry a 24-22 lead into halftime.
William Smith shot slightly better from the floor (.345 to .324) and beyond the arc (.292 to .200) than the Cardinals and made more than twice as many free throws (11) as Plattsburgh attempted (5).
The Herons will close out their stay in New York City against the host Violets (6-3), a 66-63 winner over Skidmore today. The game will tip off at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 30.