WOMEN BASKETBALL ADVANCES TO ECC FINALS

FLUSHING, NY- Sophomore Kymira Woodberry's (Boston, MA) jumper with 50 seconds remaining put Molloy ahead for good and helped cap a late rally from 10 points down to send the second seeded Lions into the ECC Women's Basketball tournament final with a 51-49 victory over third seeded C.W. Post Saturday at the Fitzgerald Center on the campus of Queens College.

The victory pushed the Lions (18-11) into the tourney final for the first time where they will face top seed and two-time defending tournament champion New Haven at Noon. Molloy won its first ever ECC tournament victory in the quarterfinals over St. Thomas Aquinas this past Wednesday.

New Haven took both victories over Molloy during the regular season.

Woodberry finished with a team high 13 points and added eight rebounds, while junior Katelyn Dunn (Bethpage, NY) added a double double of 10 points and 10 boards. Sophomore Lisa Abitante (Brooklyn, NY) finished with nine points, while senior Randi Bender (North Bellmore, NY) chipped in with eight.

Basimah Thompson led the Pioneers (17-12) with 13 points, while Emily Hall notched 11 points and eight rebounds, and Whitney Murrer added 10 points.

After both teams struggled to develop a rhythm in the first half, managing a combined 39 points, C.W. Post jumped ahead thanks to a 10-0 run keyed by three jumpers from Murrer for a 46-36 advantage with 6:40 to play.

But Molloy rallied taking advantage of missed shots and turnovers and worked the lead down to three (49-46) on two free throws from Woodberry followed by a Dunn layup with 2:21 to go to cut the lead to one.

Both teams traded scoreless possessions until Woodberry buried the eventual gamer with 46 seconds left.