Women’s Hoops: St. Mike’s Goes to 4-1, Wins Dominican’s Tournament

Courtesy St. Michael’s Sports Information

ORANGEBURG, N.Y. — A 13-2 fourth-quarter run gave the Saint Michael’s College women’s basketball team the lead for good before the Purple Knights held on for a 71-69 victory over Dominican (N.Y.) College on Sunday during the Chargers’ Regina Rivera Memorial Tournament in the Hennessy Center.

RECORDS
· Saint Michael’s (4-1), Dominican (2-3)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS
· Junior Nicole Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine/Marianapolis Prep), 23 points, 6 rebounds, 5-for-7 three-pointers
· Senior Taylor Miller (Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth), 19 points (career high), 17 rebounds (tied career high), 9 offensive rebounds (tied career high), 2 assists, 2 blocks
· Senior Brianna Purcell (Bedford, N.H./Bedford), 15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 6-for-12 field goals
· Sophomore Nicole Ladas (Glastonbury, Conn./Tilton School), 8 points, 3 rebounds, 4-for-8 field goals
· Sophomore Emma MacDonough (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington), 6 rebounds, 4 assists
· Senior Alyssa Breunig (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull), 6 rebounds

OPPONENT LEADERS
· Senior Jasmine Gee, 12 points, 7 rebounds
· Sophomore Naabea-Janaan Assibey-Bonsu, 11 points, 2 assists
· Junior Samantha McClutchy, 10 points, 4-for-6 field goals
· Sophomore Jaid Harrell, 9 rebounds

GAME FACTS
· The Purple Knights are 4-1 for the first time since a 5-1 beginning to the 2007-08 campaign.
· Saint Michael’s improved to 5-3 all-time against Dominican, with the teams playing for the first time since Dec. 16, 2012. The Purple Knights had last won on the Chargers’ home court on Jan. 21, 2008.
· The Purple and Gold held a 54-36 rebounding advantage, its largest since a plus-28 showing (62-34) against Post University on Dec. 9, 2014.
· Saint Michael’s claimed a narrow edge in overall shooting (40.3%-36.8%), while Dominican led in three-point success (40.0%-38.5%).
· The teams were a combined 12-for-15 on free throws between the beginning of the second period and the opening 9:39 of the fourth quarter. They proceeded to go 5-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final 21 seconds of the contest.

THE ACTION
· Anderson scored five early points, and Ladas’ jumper at 5:34 of the opening quarter gave Saint Michael’s an 11-2 lead, the first of three nine-point edges. Purcell’s two free throws made it 15-6 with 4:19 to go.
· Four different Chargers scored during an 8-1 response, and the hosts trailed just 16-14 on first-year Alexis Suarez’s triple at 1:19.
· Anderson’s trey put the Purple Knights back up by seven (21-14) at 8:37 of the second period before Dominican forged ahead courtesy of a 23-6 run that saw the hosts lead 37-27 on sophomore Taylor Tomlinson’s jumper with 1:08 left in the half. McClutchy had six points in the run while senior Kyla Ramseur and junior Khay’la Latimer both notched five.
· Dominican led by a 41-33 count early in the third period before Anderson’s three kicked off a 10-0 run, which Ladas capped with a go-ahead bucket at 5:47. Assibey-Bonsu scored five points as the Chargers responded with an 11-2 run that made it 52-45 by 1:19, and the hosts were still up six with 8:37 left in the fourth quarter.
· Miller’s back-to-back lay-ups off of Purcell helpers cut the deficit to two and Anderson knocked down two go-ahead threes in a 1:23 span before extending the lead to 64-59 on a jumper with 3:21 left, capping a 13-2 surge.
· Purcell’s lay-in with 32 seconds to go had Saint Michael’s in front 68-64, but Gee buried a three seven ticks later, setting up a wild finish. Purcell split two free throws at 21 seconds to keep Dominican within 69-67, and junior Korina Guerra drew a foul with a chance to tie but also went 1-of-2 on freebies at 17 seconds.
· With the Purple Knights up 69-68 and possessing, the Chargers forced a backcourt turnover but immediately committed a giveaway, as Purcell stepped in front to draw a charge.
· More free throws followed, as Anderson made one before missing the second, and Dominican senior Ashley Merritt, with a chance to tie, split two after coming off the bench to replace an injured teammate who drew a foul with nine seconds left. MacDonough snagged the second miss then also went 1-for-2 at six seconds to produce a 71-69 lead. The Chargers pushed the ball down the floor on the final possession, and a Dominican player’s good look at a winning three hit the front of the rim at the buzzer.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL’S GAME
· Saturday at Stonehill College, 1:30 p.m.
· The Skyhawks received a vote toward the preseason D2SIDA National Media Poll.
· Stonehill qualified for the past two NCAA Tournaments.