OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Dec. 30, 2010) - NYIT women's basketball was dealt a hard-fought 60-56 loss to St. Anselm's on Thursday at Recreation Hall. The Bears were paced by junior Cierra Baker's (Windsor, Conn.) 16 points and 14 rebounds. With the loss, NYIT dropped to 3-6 on the season.

 

Sophomore Rebecca Lynch (Hillsdale, N.J.) added a season-best 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss. For the Hawks (5-5), Epiphany Smith tied the game-high 16 points, while Furran Leighton posted 14 points and Megan Howard tallied 10 rebounds.

 

The game was decided on free throws in the final three minutes. The Bears trailed by just one point, 35-34, at the half and rallied in the second half to claim their largest lead of the game, 49-39, on a layup from Lynch with 12:05 to play. However, from there the Hawks fought back to cut the gap to one point, 49-48, on eight straight points.

 

St. Anselm regained control of the scoreboard with 6:16 remaining on a layup from Howard, 52-51. That's when NYIT found itself in foul trouble. The final eight points scored by the Hawks were all on free throws. After St. Anselm pushed to a five-point lead, 58-53, rookie Keyla Pullen (Richmond, Va.) dropped a three-pointer to put the Bears back in the game, 58-56, with 1:07 to play. But it was not enough as St. Anselm went on to win 60-56.

 

NYIT returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 5 on the road at Dowling. Tip-off in the East Coast Conference game is slated for 5 p.m. in Oakdale, N.Y.