Late Surge Gets UB Women's Basketball Back In The Win Column With A 62-57 Victory At Pace
Purple Knights Close The Game Out With a 7-1 Run To Claim The Win
Pleasantville, N.Y.-The University of Bridgeport women's basketball team got right back in the win column on Saturday after suffering its first loss of the season on Wednesday night at AIC, as the Purple Knights use a late surge to post a 62-57 non-conference road triumph over the Pace University Setters to close out a season-opening, four-game road swing. With the victory, UB heads into its home opener on Tuesday night versus Mercy College at 5:00 p.m. in Hubbell Gym with a 3-1 record. Pace is now 1-2 on the young season.
Trailing 56-55 late in the fourth quarter, Bridgeport took a 57-56 lead which it never relinquished on a layup by senior Stephanie McBride (Brooklyn, N.Y.). with 2:45 to play.
UB would increase its lead to four points at the 1:58 mark when freshman Amani Melendez (Woodbridge, Va.) drained a three-point shot to make the score 60-56.
After Pace split a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left, Melendez, who finished with a game-high 17 points connecting on 5-of-8 field goals including a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range, would ice the game with two free throws with 10 seconds to play.
Three other Purple Knights would join Melendez in double figures in Saturday's win, as Stephanie McBride had 11 points plus sophomore Brianna Meekins (Bridgeport, Conn.) and junior Shakira Hester (Bronx, N.Y.) each chipped in 10 points for the winners.
Hester played a key role off the Bridgeport bench, as she also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go along with those 10 points.
Arianna Stockinger led Pace with 10 points on the afternoon.