Big Second Half Lifts NYIT Women To ECC Hoops Win Over Purple Knights, 85-63

Old Westbury, N.Y.-The visiting University of Bridgeport women's basketball team trailed by only two points, 34-32, at the half, but saw the host NYIT Bears pull away in the second half to record a 85-63 East Coast Conference win on Saturday afternoon on Long Island.  UB is now 6-17 overall and 4-13 in conference play.  NYIT lifts its overall mark to 15-7, and its ECC mark to 11-5.

The Purple Knights got off to a good start on Saturday grabbing a 10-point, 26-16, lead with 11:00 to play in the opening stanza, but UB went cold for the rest of the half scoring only six more points to close out the half.

Junior Tiara Aziz (Easton, Pa.) led UB in scoring with 18 points, and she also had seven rebounds. Junior Jennifer Kucukkaya (Sodertalje, Sweden) joined Aziz in double figures with 15 points.  Freshman Evelyn Ovner (Vallentuna, Sweden) led the Purple Knights on the glass with nine boards.

Rebecca Romeo led NYIT with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, and teammate Demitra Apergis also notched a double-double contributing 14 points and 10 assists of the Bears' bench.

The Bridgeport women will continue their three-game road trip on Friday night, as the team travels to Rochester, New York to face Roberts Wesleyan College.  Action is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m. on February 21.