NEW HAVEN, Conn. – In a regular-season finale battle for a First Round home game in the 2017 Northeast-10 Conference Championship Tournament, the Pace University women's basketball team came out on top over Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), 63-57, after some late clutch shooting in Tuesday's NE10 matchup at the Moore Field House.
FIRST ROUND SCENARIO
- The Setters take fourth place in the Southwest Division over SCSU with Tuesday's victory, which earns them a First Round home game against the No. 5 seed out of the Northeast Division.
- Due to a tiebreaker in the Northeast Division, Merrimack College claims the No. 5 seed, and will be Pace's opponent Friday evening at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
- SCSU will travel to Stonehill College to play the fourth-place Skyhawks out of the Northeast Division on Friday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1ST QUARTER
- An early 7-0 run put the Setters ahead, 11-6, with 4:22 left to play in the first.
- Senior
Christina Rubin (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic / Iona College) later hit a three to make it a 14-7 game, and after an SCSU basket, sophomore
Alexandra Monteleone (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) drained a jumper to go back up by seven with 34 seconds left.
- SCSU got the final point on a free throw by Taylor McLaughlin, but the Setters took a 16-10 edge into the second period.
2ND QUARTER
- Rubin caught in the second, starting with another three just 32 seconds in to improve Pace's lead to nine.
- With 2:56 left in the half, Rubin hit another long ball to make it a 25-21 game.
- SCSU's Maria Weselyj followed with a three of her own, but Rubin answered right back again with her third of the quarter and fourth of the game just seconds later to put Pace back up by four.
- Leading 28-26 with under a minute to play in the half, graduate student
Jaclyn Oskam (Glenmont, NY/Bethlehem Central / Quinnipiac University) drew a foul beyond the three-point line, sending her to the line for three.
- She made all three shots, sending the game into the half with a 31-26 score in favor of the Setters.
HALFTIME STATS
- Rubin led the Setters with 12 points on four three-pointers in the first half.
- SCSU's McLaughlin led all scorers with 13 points and nine rebounds at the break.
THIRD QUARTER
- The Setters stretched their lead out to 10 points during the third quarter, but back-and-forth play resulted in a 10-10 stalemate during the third frame, leaving Pace up, 41-36, heading into the final stanza.
FOURTH QUARTER
- A three-pointer by SCSU's Chandler Williams got the Owls within one at 44-43 with 7:23 on the clock.
- Oskam kept Pace on top with a clutch triple, but Weselyj fired back with one of her own for the home team to keep it a one-point contest.
- The Setters could not score on their next possession, and McLaughlin took advantage with a layup to give the Owls their first lead since early in the first quarter.
- The two NE10 rivals traded one-point leads back and forth until the game was tied up at 52-52 with 4:15 to play.
- Nearly two minutes went by before anyone was able to score again, but Monteleone broke the silence with a big three to put the Setters back in the lead with 2:24 left to play.
- After a stop, the Setters marched down the court, where Oskam put in another trey to push the lead up to six with just 1:41 left.
- Murphy Murad got the Owls back on the board with two, but Monteleone hit yet another three for the Setters just a moment later to make it a seven point game with 67 seconds remaining.
- SCSU took some time to run a play, but with 43 seconds left, Weselyj managed to hit a three and draw within four.
- Senior
Kirsten Dodge (Fabius, NY/Fabius-Pompey) then went to the line, where she made 1-of-2 to keep Pace up by five with 40 seconds showing on the clock.
- Three straight stops for the Setters, as well as a free throw by sophomore
Heather Kiczek (Wallkill, NY/Wallkill), helped Pace pick up one of their most important wins of the year and sweep the season series against the Owls.
SETTER STATS
- Oskam finished up with a team-high 15 points after going 3-of-4 from long range.
- Rubin finished right behind with 14 points, while freshman
Jackie DelliSanti (Commack, NY/Commack) and Monteleone joined them in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
- Dodge tied for a game-high 12 rebounds.
- Sophomore
Stefanie Svoboda (Ossining, NY/Ossining) dished out a game-best five assists.
- The Setters shot 19-of-40 (47.5 percent) from the field in the game, as well as 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from three-point range.
- Pace held the Owls to just 27.1 percent from the field (19-of-70).
OWL LEADERS
- McLaughlin finished a double-double with a game-high 27 points to go along with 12 boards.
- Weselyj hit four three-pointers and totaled 16 points on the evening.
RECORDS
- Pace: 14-14 (8-12 NE10)
- Southern Connecticut: 11-16 (7-13 NE10)
WHAT'S NEXT?
- Riding a three-game winning streak, the Setters host Merrimack on Friday, Feb. 24, in the First Round of the 2017 NE10 Women's Basketball Championships. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
- Ticket prices and other information for Friday's NE10 First Round matchup will be made available on PaceUAthletics.com prior to Friday's contest.
For all information regarding Pace University women's basketball, log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com and follow Pace Women's Basketball on Facebook (
Pace Women's BBall), Twitter (
@PaceWBB) and Instagram (
@PaceWBB).
