OLD WESTBURY, NY (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) - The SUNY Old Westbury women's basketball team hosted the University of Saint Joseph Blue Jays in a non-conference matchup Thursday evening from the Clark Athletic Center.  Once trailing by as many as 17 points early in the second-half and 12 points late in regulation, the Panthers engineered a torrid comeback, outscoring the Blue Jays, 18-4 the final five minutes of play, en route to a 73-71 come from behind victory.  Old Westbury's two game losing skid was snapped with the victory and improve to 13-9 on the season, while Saint Joseph drops to 13-8 on the season.

DeAndra Scott registered game-highs in points with 23, shooting 8-for-17 from the floor and making 7-of-10 free throw attempts.  She also led all players in rebounding with 16 to register her seventh straight double-double.   Antoinette Jolly posted a career-high 19 points, going 9-for-13 from the field, career-best nine steals to go along with seven rebounds and six assists.  Clarissa Gallagher scored 11 points and Abigail Williams tallied nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals.    

For the Blue Jays, Mary Hyde scored a team-high with 18 points and Devon Diliberto added 12 points.  Diliberto surpassed the 1,000 career-point mark in her career by hitting a pair of free-throws with 15:27 remaining in the game. 

Saint Joseph had a 12-point advantage with 5:01 on the clock, 67-55.  The stage was set for the Panthers' surge as they punctuated a thrilling comeback.  It was sparked by a Scott layup with 4:49 on the clock, cutting the deficit to 10.  On the pursuing Saint Joseph possession, Jolly forced a turnover and laid the ball in the hoop, making it an eight-point game.  Scott secured a miss Blue Jay shot attempt and proceeded to dribble the ball quickly up the court for a fast-break layup, trimming the deficit to six (67-61) with 3:42 left.  Later in the Panthers' run, Jolly made a layup on a Gallagher assist, slicing the Blue Jays lead to three, 69-66 with 2:26 shown.

Jolly's layup with 1:12 left gave the Panthers their first lead of the second-half, 70-69.    The Blue Jays' Shauna Sullivan answered Jolly's layup with a jumper of her own, regaining the lead for Saint Joseph, 71-70.  After a missed Panther three-pointer, Scott swiped the ball from away from Saint Joseph and passed the ball to Jolly.  Jolly dished the ball to Williams, who converted on a layup with 22 seconds left, giving Old Westbury the lead back, 72-71.   After Gallagher hit the front end on a trip to the line, Blue Jays had a chance to potentially tie the game at the end of regulation; however, the shot fell short on a missed Heather Frramski jumped.

Old Westbury came out of the gate hot, making three fast-break layups, giving the hosts a 9-4 lead less than three minutes in.  Gallagher's triple at the 16:22 mark of the first extended the Panthers' lead to six, 12-6,  and less than three minutes later, Olivia Illardi drained a three-ball, giving Old Westbury a 17-10 lead with 13:11 left.   The Blue Jays mounted a charge going on a 21-8 spurt over the next six minutes of action, taking a 31-25 lead with 6:29 on the clock.  Lindsay Feducia led the way scoring eight of her 11 game points on two three-pointers in the Saint Joseph sequence.  Saint Joseph capitalized on six Old Westbury turnovers in the final six minutes, which led to a Mary Hyde layup at the 3:41 mark and after a steal by Framski, she passed it to Hyde for a three with 2:24 left, extending the St. Joseph lead to 12, 39-27.  Saint Joseph took a 41-29 lead into the break after closing out the half with a 24-8 run.  

Old Westbury shot 45.2 percent from the floor and held a 46-32 rebounding advantage, while holding Saint Joseph to 38.1 percent shooting. 

NYU-POLY FIGHTING JAYS UP NEXT FOR THE PANTHERS:  Old Westbury returns to Skyline Conference action when they travel to Brooklyn, New York to battle the NYU-Poly Fighting Jays on Saturday, Febuary 9.  Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. from Jacobs Gymnasium

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