Keuka Advances into NEAC Championship

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The Keuka College women's basketball team might feature three all-conference student-athletes, but during Saturday afternoon's North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) semifinal contest, the Storm's balance and depth sparked Keuka back to the NEAC title game.

Nine different student-athletes scored and six had seven or more points to lead the Storm (20-3) to an 81-68 win over Penn State-Harrisburg inside the Horst Athletic Center on the campus of Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, Pa.

Junior Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches) scored 20 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists and classmate Danielle Gravel (Sidney, NY/Sidney) added 13 points and five steals for the Storm (20-3), who won their 13th straight game against NEAC foes dating to the regular season.

Junior Casey Chamberlain (Perry, NY/Perry) added 11 points and four rebounds while classmate Taylor Szwec (Candor, NY/Candor) came off the bench to grab 11 rebounds with seven points and 5 assists in the win.

Senior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) added 12 points and six rebounds while sophomore Erica Pendrak (Utica, NY/New York Mills) chipped in 10 points and six rebounds for Keuka, which will face Lancaster Bible College at 2 p.m. Sunday for the NEAC championship.

"We did a good job of talking to each other and playing well as a team today, which gave us a lot of energy on the court," Chamberlain said. "When we talk to each other and we're cheering each other up, telling each other where to go, that's when we start to get going on the court."

The winner of Sunday's title game receives the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III tournament. The Storm have qualified for NCAA's in four of the last six years, and have won six of the eight NEAC postseason championships in the conference's history.

Live stats will be available from all Keuka postseason contests at www.KeukaStorm.com/live-stats. Additionally, a live video feed can be viewed at http://m.ustream.tv/channel/lbcchargers.

Four members of the Storm shot 50 percent or better from the field as Keuka connected on 50.8 percent of its shots (32-for-63). Leading the way was Chamberlain (4-for-5), Bandrowski (6-for-9), Mouzon (6-for-12) and Pendrak (5-for-10).

The Green and Gold outrebounded Harrisburg (18-9) 43-32.

Pendrak scored eight points and collected four rebounds, Szwec had 6 rebounds, 5 points and 3 assists and Chamberlain added six points and three rebounds as the Storm took a 31-21 lead into halftime.

Harrisburg hung around and used a 6-2 run to pull within 33-27, but Bandrowski connected on a layup and a '3' and Mouzon added back-to-back jumpers for a 42-31 lead with 14:32 remaining.

A three-pointer from Jasmine Yanich pulled Harrisburg within 46-38, but Bandrowski hit a fast-break layup, Gravel converted a three-point play, Szwec hit a layup and Chamberlain buried a '3' to cap a 10-0 run.

"I just come in and do whatever I can to help our team. It's not always the points that help, you need someone who can rebound and who can dish out the assists, so I do what I can to help," Szwec said.

"Our depth is amazing, anyone can step up on any day. We don't need just one player to score for us; all five starters are capable of scoring and we have a good bench, too."

Chamberlain and Mouzon each made layups and Gravel drained a '3' to put Keuka ahead 63-43 with 5:27 remaining, and Keuka took its biggest lead of the day when Bandrowski got a steal and fed Gravel for a fast-break layup and a 67-45 lead with 4:30 remaining.

The Storm maintained at least a 16-point lead until the final minute, when Harrisburg connected on three '3s' but Keuka went on to beat the Nittany Lions for the second time this year.

Mercedes Copeland and Miranda Zeanchock each scored 18 points for Harrisburg.

Up next for the Storm is a rematch with Lancaster Bible, the only NEAC opponent to defeat Keuka during the 2012-13 season.

"A win like this gives us a lot of confidence heading into the championship game. It really lets us know what we're capable of it we play as a team," Chamberlain said.

"We all knew we had to play our hardest today, because if we lost we went home, so we just went out and played the best we could."