PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.-The Setters fall short in a battle to take second place in the conference to the Owls of Southern Connecticut University, 70-57. The two teams split wins this year as the Setters took the first match-up in November. The Setters stand at 16-6 overall and 13-5 in the NE-10 Conference, now tied for third place in the NE-10 with Assumption. The Owls advance to 18-4 overall and 15-3 in the conference.
The score was tied ten times the entire game, with nine of those ties being in the first half and ten of twelve lead changes occurred in the first half as well. The Setters took their largest lead of the game, by five in the first at 13:33. The last tie of the first half came at 4:40 on a layup made by Carol Johnson (New City, NY/Cardinal Spellman) (New City, NY/Cardinal Spellman). The Owls pulled ahead late to take a 35-30 lead at halftime.
The Setters came out early in the second half to tie it up for the last time at 35-35 with 18:52 left to play in the game. The Owls took a slight lead over the next two minutes before a lay-up from Brittany Shields (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) put the Setters back in front with 16 minutes remaining in the game. The Owls pulled ahead to a 48-45 lead and rallied with a 12-4 run to pull ahead by 11 points with six minutes to play.
The Setters used an 8-2 run as Shields scored six points and Johnson connected on a pair of free throws to pull Pace to within five points at 62-57 with just under four minutes to play in the game. The Owls headed to the free throw line over the final three minutes as they went 6-of-7 at the line and held off the Setters down the stretch.
For Southern Connecticut, Camille Fantini scored a double-double with 20 points and ten rebounds while also adding six assists and three steals for the Owls. Sylvonya Moore finished with 15 points, three assists and three steals while Moni Smith-Ocran totaled 12 points and four rebounds.
Three players scored in double digits for the Setters as Shields led the way with 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Johnson totaled 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists while Allison Cleary (New Windsor, NY/Cornwall Central) (New Windsor, NY/Cornwall Central) put up 11 points and two assists. Maral Javadifar (Flushing, NY/The Mary Louis Academy) (Flushing, NY/ Mary Louis Academy) finished with seven rebounds, four points and four steals, while Kerri White (Flushing, NY/Archbishop Molloy) contributed seven points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Setters return to action on Saturday Feb. 11 at 1:30 pm against the College of St. Rose for their last home game of the regular season. The seniors will be honored prior to tip-off and there will be a Play 4 Kay Breast Cancer Foundation fundraiser.
