Despite Second Half Surge, NYIT Falters Late at Home to UDC | Athletics News

OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Feb. 8, 2012) – No. 23 University of District of Columbia scored the final six points, all from the free throw line, to defeat NYIT women's basketball 59-52 Wednesday night. With their third consecutive loss, the Bears drop to 6-5 in the East Coast Conference and 13-10 overall this season. UDC pulls into a first-place tie at the top of the ECC standings with Dowling College at 9-2 and 18-3 overall.

Junior Rebecca Lynch (Hillsdale, N.J.) scored a game-high 21 points, including 17 in the second half, along with six rebounds to lead the Bears in the effort. Junior Nikki Jo Rotolo (Rome, N.Y.) added 10 points, all in the final half, to round out the double-digit scorers for NYIT. Cierra “C.C.” Baker (Windsor, Conn.), who returned to action from an injury suffered on Jan. 7 at Molloy, managed two points and six rebounds in 23 minutes.

NYIT held onto an early 9-8 lead, but UDC scored the next 13 points to pull out to a 21-9 advantage. The Bears fell behind due to a scoring drought that lasted nearly 10 minutes. The Firebirds led 27-16 at the half despite just 28% shooting from the field compared to 25% for the Bears.

NYIT cut the lead to 30-27 in the opening minutes of the second half following five points from Rotolo and four from Lynch off of a pair of UDC turnovers. The Bears trailed close behind until taking their second lead of the game at 45-44 with 4:25 remaining after Rotolo put in a jumper. Down again at 55-52 with 37 seconds remaining, Chloe Johnson (Sea Cliff, N.Y.) missed a three-point attempt from the top of the key in an effort to tie, giving UDC the opportunity to pull away from the line for the eventual 59-52 win.

Firebird forwards Stacey Griffith and Dohnay Banice took advantage of their size in the paint to lead with 17 points apiece for UDC. The duo combined for 26 of 43 total rebounds as well. Lauren Brittingham added 10 points and four assists in the win.

NYIT returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 11 when it hosts Molloy College in East Coast Conference action. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Recreation Hall.

About NYIT
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees in more than 90 fields of study, including architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine. A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has more than 14,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT sponsors 11 NCAA Division II programs and one Division I team.

Led by President Edward Guiliano, NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. To date, 89,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.

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