Women's Basketball Makes First-Ever NCAA Championship

On March 14, the NYIT women’s basketball team competed for the first time in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 2016 East Regional Championship against top-seeded Bentley. The game came after the Bears made team history with two postseason victories in the NCAA East Region Tournament.

Though NYIT just missed victory (the final score was 79-74), several Bears brought their A-game. Dina Ragab, East Coast Conference (ECC) Player of the Year, topped all players in the game with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks, earning her a place on the 2016 All-Tournament Team along with teammate Nina Vukosavljevic, who finished the game with 22 points and five assists. Shanice Allen (pictured above wearing a No. 5 jersey) averaged 21.5 points through the tournament with a .464 shooting percentage from the field and a more than .5 shooting percentage from three-point range.

“This has to be the most amazing season I've been a part of in almost two decades of college basketball,” says Head Coach Anthony Crocitto. “This team bought into everything we tried to do and also served the community, the university, and their academics with tremendous success. I cannot be more proud of these women and appreciate what our seniors did for the program. Each year, we go a little further, making the future even brighter for NYIT women's basketball.”

The women’s basketball team ends its historic season at 26-9 overall, a new program record for wins. In ECC play, the Bears’ 18-2 record captured the regular season title and included a season-high, 16-game winning streak from Dec. 2 to Feb. 10.