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Storm Downed in Semi’s by Giants
July 18, 2008
The No. 2 seeded Keuka College women’s basketball team’s quest for a fifth straight North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Tournament Title fell short on Friday. The Storm lost in the semifinals to the No. 3 Keystone College Giants, 72-69 in overtime. Keuka lost to Keystone six days ago as well in its regular season finale. The Storm fall to 14-10 overall while Keystone improves to 15-11.
The Giants move on to face the top-seeded Spartans of D’Youville College on Saturday at 2 pm. D’Youville defeated No. 5 seed Baptist Bible College, 69-58 in the semi’s.
Just one missed free throw (9-for-10) provided the Giants with a five-point cushion at the break (35-30). Both teams made 11 first half field goals and shot around 35% from the floor. The Storm, however, connected on just 5-of-11 charity stripe tosses.
The Storm trailed the entire second half, even by as many as 10 (56-46) with just 3:53 remaining. Keuka wasn’t ready to go down without a fight as they stormed back by going on a 14-4 run over the rest of the game to send it to overtime. Highlighted by a basket from senior Abby Brewer (Ovid, N.Y./South Seneca) with just ten second remaining to tie the game.
Keystone scored the first seven points of the overtime period as they never trailed in the extra frame. Keuka got back within three with a few seconds remaining but Brittany Schrock’s (Elmira Heights, N.Y./Thomas Edison) 3-pointer missed at the buzzer.
For the game Keuka shot 40% while Keystone shot just 31%. The Giants made up for it by going 26-for-33 from the free throw line to Keuka’s 15-for-26. Keuka led in rebounds (50-41) and in blocks (7-3) but coughed up 29 turnovers leading to 17 Giant steals.
Although the Storm players would have much rather of left with a win, senior Pam Gardner (Caledonia, N.Y./Caledonia-Mumford) accomplished a personal milestone in the game. With a made free throw with 3:28 left in the second half, Gardner became just the ninth women’s basketball player in Keuka history to reach 1,000 career points. the power forward finished with a team-high 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor and 8-of-12 from the line. Gardner currently has 1,004 career points, placing her eighth in the Keuka annals. She also pulled down 11 rebounds to complete the double-double.
Fellow senior Erica Golden (Whippleville, N.Y./Franklin Academy) added 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Golden shot 6-for-12 from the floor while recording three steals, and two blocks. Freshman point guard Courtney Lincoln (Waterloo, N.Y./Waterloo) became the third and final storm player to reach double figures by netting 10 points before fouling out.
Brewer added 11 rebounds, eight points, three blocks, and two steals. Rookie guards Schrock and Jessica Fink (New Oxford, PA/New Oxford) each netted six points while finishing with six and three assists, respectively.
Ellen Fallon (28 points) and Kelli Brago (20 points) did all of the damage for the Giants. The duo combined to attempt 40 of Keystone 65 shots.
Keuka will next wait and see if they have done enough to warrant a birth into the ECAC Upstate Tournament.
