On Wednesday, Feb. 11, the LIU Post women’s basketball team (14-9) defeated the Mavericks from Mercy College (8-15) to win their third-straight East Coast Conference game. Their 72-59 victory was powered by the reigning ECC Player of the Week, senior guard Chelsea Williams, who poured in a game-high 23 points in front of the Pratt Recreation Center faithful at LIU Post.
The Mavericks got the scoring started on the afternoon, but after that it was all Pioneers, as they went on a 20-2 run in the game’s first seven minutes, dominating in all facets of the game. They kept their lead for the rest of the half, and extended their cushion to 23 points via a lay-up from junior guard Quanisha Ratley. The Pioneers headed to halftime up 41-26 on the scoreboard.
In the second half, the Pioneers didn’t let their foot off the gas, as they maintained a double-digit lead throughout the latter stanza. The Pioneers’ dominance was due in part to their tireless work on the boards. They out-rebounded the Mavericks by ten and were led by junior center Nyasia Davis, who grabbed 14 boards. To go along with her 23 points, Williams dished out eight assists, grabbed four rebounds, and blocked six shots. Senior guard Ashley Castle added 11 points to help out the cause.
The Pioneers returned to action on Saturday, Feb. 14, when they traveled to Sparkhill, N.Y. to face off against the Spartans from St. Thomas Aquinas College (11-14). The visiting Pioneers got behind the eight ball early, and couldn’t recover, losing by a score of 77-69.
Following the opening tip, LIU started the game off very sloppily, missing three field goals and committing four turnovers. Trailing 6-5 early, the Spartans made a statement on their home court with a huge 17-0 run, which set the tone for the rest of the game. The Pioneers committed four more turnovers during that span and the hosts held a 45-28 edge at halftime.
The second half was more of the same for the Pioneers, as they were never able to chip away at the lead and gain momentum. A few 5-0 spurts were answered with buckets by the Spartans, which eventually put the game out of reach. For the game, senior forward Jessica Little had a team-high 15 points, while Williams scored 13 of her own. Davis added 11 points and eight boards, while Ratley chipped in with ten points. As a team, the Pioneers never really got going offensively, explaining their low field goal percentage of just 34%.
As for the Spartans, sophomore guard Samantha Burden had a game-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds while freshman guard Jenna Erickson poured in 17 points. The Spartans felt it from long range, as they shot an even 50% from deep and also shot close to the same percentage from the field as well.
Head LIU Post women’s basketball coach Deirdre Moore and the Pioneers will try and rebound from their loss when they take the court on Sunday, February 15 against the Molloy College Lions. Tip-off from Rockville Centre, N.Y. is scheduled for 5 p.m.
This article was originally published in the Pioneer, the award-winning student newspaper of LIU Post, www.liupostpioneer.com, and is republished here by Blank Slate Media with the permission of the Pioneer.
