PEMBROKE – With just one senior between the 2 colleges, Pembroke and Quincy are amidst a youth motion, however the Presidents got here out on prime of the courtroom for the second straight 12 months.
With the highest spot of the Patriot League Fisher Division within the stability, Quincy prevailed 51-49 in a come-from-behind women basketball victory over the Titans.
The Presidents (7-1, 5-0) remained undefeated in Fisher League play behind the double-double efforts of junior ahead Alyssa Hopps, who had 18 factors and 15 rebounds, together with key free throws down the stretch to seal issues.
Niamh Gendron chipped in 15 factors, six rebounds and 4 assists because the Presidents despatched the Titans to their second loss in as a few years to Quincy on their house courtroom.
“Their whole defense is about causing havoc and disruption and they do a really great job at it, read passes really well, and it’s hard to prepare for something like that,” mentioned Quincy head coach, Sarah Conlon. “For a very young team with two freshmen playing significant minutes, the whole team really did a great job.”
Pembroke (6-2, 4-1) led 27-20 on the half as a 7-0 run erased the primary lead of the sport for Quincy, which led 16-15 with 6:30 to go within the second quarter. Caroline Balasco (11 factors) was robust within the backcourt with 5 of the seven factors within the stretch and Alissa Marcella completed with 10 halftime factors en path to a game-high 23 factors.
The backcourt of Balasco and Allie Dwyer had the Titans cruising within the second quarter, however halftime changes from Quincy doomed the Pembroke ship.
The Presidents got here out with Gendron within the excessive publish and Hopps would roll to the ring from the highest of the important thing for straightforward give-and-go layups for Quincy out of the gates within the third quarter for 4 consecutive profitable possessions.
This opened the play from past the arc as three-pointers from freshmen starters Frankie Diaz and Rory Kennedy tied issues up twice late within the third because the Presidents shot three-of-five within the remaining three minutes of the third quarter.
Pembroke answered with back-to-back threes of their very own from Marcella and Elli Tam (14 factors) because the Titans held a slim three-point lead, 42-39, heading into the fourth.
In the ultimate eight frantic minutes, Kennedy hit her second three-pointer of the second half and made this one depend as Quincy took the lead for less than the second time however for good with 3:07 left in regulation, 46-44.
Free throws within the remaining seconds dogged each groups however it was Hoops who grabbed a couple of rebounds, drew the foul line assignments, and hit simply sufficient from the charity stripe to safe the win.
“We are young, so we were 5-15 two years ago with a bunch of these girls playing as freshmen and last year we made it to the tournament, and this year we are maturing but that’s one of those games against a really talented team that we just needed to be more precise,” mentioned Pembroke head coach Tim Lopes. “We still have all our goals ahead of us, which are achievable, and I think both us and Quincy are better teams than at 5 p.m. when we got here.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com