 "Photo: Courtesy of www.quinnipiacbobcats.com")
The season came to an end for the Quinnipiac University women’s basketball team on Saturday evening, but not without a fight. The Bobcats lost to the Long Island University, 70-63, in the quarterfinals of the Northeast Conference Tournament.
A furious rally late in the second half turned a 14-point lead for second-seeded Long Island with 6 minutes remaining, into just a four-point game with a little under two minutes left. Unfortunately for the No. 7 seed Bobcats, time was not on their side, and their comeback fell just short.
Junior center Courtney Kaminski led the Bobcats with 23 points. Junior forward Lailah Pratt contributed 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while senior guard Kathleen Neyens added ten points on 2-of-4 shooting from three-point range.
For the Blackbirds both junior guard Heidi Mothershead and sophomore guard Kiara Evans led the way with 16 points a piece. Forward Ashley Palmer led the team in rebounding with nine.
The first half started off as a back-and-forth contest, with each team grabbing the lead three separate times. However, LIU opened the lead prior to halftime, going on an 18-3 run in the final six minutes to turn a one-point deficit into a 38-24 advantage at the break.
The Blackbirds’ run was keyed offensively by freshman guard Krystal Wells, who scored five points, and Evans, who contributed four points during the run. The run was also helped by Long Island’s defensive effort, as they came up with five steals over the last six minutes of the half to stymie Quinnipiac’s offensive efforts.
Kaminski and junior forward Alyssa Jann combined for 20 of Quinnipiac’s 24 first-half points, with Kaminski scoring 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Jann added seven points of her own. Long Island out-rebounded Quinnipiac 24-16 in the first half, and had seven steals as opposed to none for the Bobcats.
The LIU lead never dropped below seven points in the first 14 minutes of the second half, and was up to as many as 14, after Mothershead hit a three-pointer to expand the Black Birds lead to 64-50 with 6:00 remaining.
Following a subsequent Quinnipiac timeout, the Bobcats began their comeback. Pratt scored six points over a 2:44 span in the second half, and after Neyens hit a deep three-pointer, Quinnipiac had cut the lead to 67-63 with 1:53 remaining.
However, the Bobcats’ next possessions ended with a turnover and a missed three-pointer. Evans, Mothershead and junior forward Chelsi Johnson each added free throws in the final minute to expand Long Island’s lead to seven points, where it would stand as the game reached its conclusion.
With the loss, Quinnipiac ends their season with a record of 12-18 (7-11 NEC).. The win moves the Blackbirds to 21-9 (14-4 NEC) as they advanced to the semifinals.
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