Fourth Quarter Offensive Explosion Lifts Women's Basketball To 82-73 Win At NYIT In ECC Opener

Old Westbury, N.Y.-A 34-point fourth quarter and balanced scoring that saw five players reach double-figure scoring helped the University of Bridgeport women's basketball team open its 2016-17 East Coast Conference scheduled in fine fashion on Wednesday night with a hard-fought, 82-73, road win over the host NYIT Bears.  Wednesday's contest featured 10 ties and 14 lead changes over the course of 40 minutes of action.  The victory lifts the Purple Knights overall record to 5-1 and gives UB a five-game winning streak.  The loss drops NYIT to 5-3 overall and 0-2 in the ECC.

Bridgeport had to overcome several obstacles to come away with Wednesday's victory, as the Purple Knights committed 20 turnovers that led to 24 NYIT points.  The host Bears also grabbed a whopping total of 23 offensive rebounds and hit nine three-point shots, but it was not enough for NYIT to come away with the win, as the Purple Knights were red-hot from the floor connecting on 54.7 percent of their field goal attempts (29 of 53) for the game.

Senior Evelyn Ovner (Vallentuna, Sweden) led the UB offense with 17 points and fell just shy of a double-double grabbing nine rebounds.

Classmate Camera Miley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 15 points, and junior Aurelie Leblanc-Florent
(Longueuil, Quebec, Canada) chipped in 13 points for the winners.

Senior Aaliyah Mercer (Bronx, N.Y.) and sophomore Samnell Vonleh (Swampscott, Mass.) completed the five UB double-digit scorers, as the each had 12 points in the winning effort.  Vohleh also added eight rebounds and blocked five shots.

Graduate student Anastasia Williams (Central Islip, N.Y.) had a strong game off the Bridgeport bench, as she scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in 13 minutes of playing time.

Julie Williams led the Bears with a game-high 18 points on the night.

Up next, the UB women's basketball team will look to run its winning streak to six game on Saturday, when the Purple Knights host Mercy College in ECC play.  Game time in Hubbell Gym is set for 2:00 p.m.