Sage women's hoops squad bests Bard for 4th win in a row as Jefferson breaks blocks mark

December 7, 2012

Sage women's hoops squad bests Bard for 4th win in a row as Jefferson breaks blocks mark

Bard

5-2

Russell Sage College

4-5

Final

Bard 5-2

Russell Sage College 4-5

Box Score

Albany, NY –The Sage Colleges' women's basketball team hosted Bard College on Friday night in the Kahl Gym in a non-conference game. The Gators posted a 47-41 win to improve to 4-5 on the year and extend its win streak to four games. Bard drops to 5-2 on the year.

Sage's sophomore forward Amie Jefferson (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) broke the program's career block record as she moved ahead of Kelly Murphy's 65 blocks (1999-2002) and now has 66 career blocks.

The Gators took a 25-21 lead at the intermission as sophomore guard Megan Bowman (Saranac, NY/Saranac) had nine of her 15 points. Senior guard Carly Vallee (East Greenbush, NY/Catholic Central) had a pair of three-pointers and had six first-half points and was held scoreless in the second half.

Bard's rookie forward Tytravia Riley (Miami, FL/Gulliver Prep) was held to seven points and six rebounds in the first half, while senior guard Imani Jones (Brooklyn, NY/Fiorello LaGuardia) had seven rebounds for the Raptors. Riley led all players with her double-double on 17 points and 18 rebounds with three steals, and a block. Jones finished with 11 rebounds and was held scoreless from the floor (0-12) and finished with just one point.

In the second half, Bard tied the action at 27-27 with 15:14 left to play and would take a 29-27 lead at 14:02 on a layup by sophomore forward Liz Freud (Dover, DE/St. Thomas More). The Gators and the Raptors exchanged leads and the action was tied again at 30-30 with 12:10 left before Bard went on a 3-0 run. A layup by Bowman and layup by freshman Sara Tironi (Cambridge, NY/ Cambridge Central), the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week, gave the Gators a 36-35 lead as they never trailed the rest of the game. Sophomore Lea McClain (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) had a pair of back-to-back layups and gave Sage a 40-35 lead.

Riley and junior guard Victoria Fleisher (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood) had a pair of jumpers and pulled the Raptors within one point, 42-41 with 0:41 left in the game. Junior Chelsea Martin (Davenport, NY/Jefferson Central) hit a clutch lay-up at :25 and was fouled seconds later, when she made one of two free throws. Tironi hit two free throws at 0:05 to give Sage a 47-41 lead, a score that would go final.

McClain finished with eight points, while Jefferson had six points with four rebounds for the Gators as they forced 24 turnovers.

The Gators will be off now until January 7 when they travel to NYU-Poly for a 6 p.m. Skyline Conference game, while Bard is in action on December 9 for a 2 p.m. road game at Pine Manor College.