Dave Sweet, Keuka's winningest women's basketball coach who guided the Storm to 179 wins and four NCAA appearances in 12 seasons, has stepped down as the women's basketball coach. He will remain Keuka's athletic director.

There’s a reason why Dave Sweet is the winningest women’s basketball coach in Keuka College history.

Sweet, who has also served as Keuka’s athletic director since 1984, has a knack for finding talented high school players, bringing them to Keuka Park and transforming them into hard-working and productive student-athletes, both on the basketball court and in the classroom.

His nose for talent doesn’t stop with his players, though. Sweet hired Katie Marcella, a wide-eyed 22-year-old assistant coach, back in 2008, hoping to develop another young talent to assist him on the sidelines.

Four years later, Sweet, the longest-tenured women’s basketball coach in Keuka’s history, is stepping down and turning over the program to Marcella, and he’s confident in Marcella’s ability to continue the strong tradition Sweet and his players have cultivated on campus.

“It’s a difficult decision for me, only because I’ve been coaching for such a long time, and I really do enjoy coaching basketball and working with the type of student-athletes we have at Keuka,” said Sweet, who compiled an impressive 179-97 record (.649 winning percentage) in 12 years leading the Green and Gold.

“There have certainly been many more highlights than lowlights in my career, so that’s been fun. But I think Katie is ready to step up and take over the women’s basketball program. We would be doing a disservice to the College if we didn’t allow her to step into that role. She did a great job leading this team during the second semester and you could see the signs that it was time for her to step into the head chair.”

Sweet will still serve as the athletic director for Keuka, overseeing the Storm’s 16 sports teams, a number Sweet helped grow by pushing for women’s golf, which recently completed its first season, and men’s volleyball, which will begin play this fall.

“I don’t want to lose my ability to work with our student-athletes,” Sweet said. “My number one role as director of athletics is to set the tone and the direction of the department as a whole, but because I was coaching, especially a sport that’s spread over two semesters, it was difficult for me to support my coaches. Now I will have more time to support and help them and make their programs better, which in turn helps our student-athletes.”

Sweet’s final game as coach came at the end of the fall semester, Dec. 10, 2011, when he guided Keuka past SUNY Cobleskill 62-37 in the final game of the semester.

In late-December, Sweet underwent full hip replacement surgery and turned the coaching reigns over to Marcella, who was a four-year starter and two-time captain for Brockport while being named to the All-State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) second team as a junior and first team as senior. 

It wasn’t the first time Marcella stepped in and assumed coaching duties for Sweet, but it was her most substantial stint, as Marcella coached Keuka to a 15-5 record, a North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) postseason championship and the Storm’s fourth trip to the NCAA tournament in six seasons.

“I feel blessed to have this opportunity as my first full-time coaching gig, being only 26 years old,” said Marcella, who also coaches Keuka’s men’s and women’s cross country squads.

“It’s a good feeling. Dave let me step into that coaching role this year, and it was a nice season for us and for myself. Now, having that official head coach title is pretty exciting and I am looking forward to seeing this program continue to grow.”

Under Marcella’s watch, Keuka rattled off nine straight wins to capture the NEAC tournament, relying on some dramatic, come-from-behind wins to advance into the NCAA’s.

Keuka trailed by double-digits in each of its three NEAC games, including a 16-point halftime deficit in the NEAC title game at SUNYIT, but each time, Keuka stormed back to win.

Facing the No. 7 ranked University of Mary Washington in the first-round of the NCAA’s, Keuka fell behind 27-6 at halftime but dominated the second half and had a chance to tie the game late in regulation before falling, 35-32. It was the closest loss of Keuka’s four NCAA appearances.

Sweet’s teams were known for their aggressive defensive, often ranking among the top schools in the country in fewest points allowed, and for their workman-like attitude. While Marcella has developed her own coaching style, she said she plans on continuing the same effective defensive and offensive systems that Sweet installed.

“Dave has built a very successful program and he’s given me that background on how to be successful and how to win at this level,” Marcella said. “Dave has basically been a coaching mentor to me and I feel comfortable going to him when I feel like I need advice. He was always willing to help and I see that continuing.”

While Sweet said he will miss the challenges of coaching a competitive and accomplished Division III program, forming those special bonds with the student-athletes, he admits the timing is perfect to step down and give a talented young coach her shot.

“I would hope this wouldn’t be a hard transition, especially because Katie has been in the program for four years and the student-athletes have really responded to her,” said Sweet, who counts Keuka’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA’s during the 2006-07  season among his proudest coaching moments.

“You couldn’t ask for a better transition time for me to turn this over to her after she’s already been in the coaching chair running the team for a while. It should be a real smooth transition.”

Jim Crowley, a 1993 Keuka College graduate, has revived the women's basketball program at St. Bonaventure. His Bonnies earned the school's first spot in the NCAA Division I tournament field after posting a 29-3 regular-season record and claiming the Atlantic-10 regular-season title (photo courtesy of St. Bonaventure Sports Information Department).

By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director
Updated 3/22/12 to include quotes from Jim Crowley

The small town of Olean, N.Y. is alive with basketball fever as both the St. Bonaventure men’s and women’s teams earned spots in the NCAA Division I tournament.

The success of the Bonaventure women (31-3 overall), who went undefeated in the Atlantic 10 conference and won the most games in a season in school history, can largely be credited to longtime head coach Jim Crowley, a 1993 Keuka College graduate who played for the Storm’s men’s basketball team and also coached the Storm’s women’s basketball team.

Crowley, who has spent the last 16 years with the Bonnies, including the last 12 as the women’s head coach, was named the 2011-12 ESPN.com National Coach of the Year after leading Bonaventure into the Big Dance for the first time in school history.

Bonaventure earned an at-large bid and the No. 5 seed in the Raleigh Region and rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to knock off No. 12 seeded Florida Gulf Coast University in the first round.

Facing No. 13 Marist College in the second round, the Bonnies advanced into the Sweet 16 with a 66-63 victory that snapped the Red Foxes’ 11-game win streak.

The Bonnies are preparing to face top seed Notre Dame (32-3) at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday for a spot in the Elite Eight, but while his team is gearing up for the biggest game in school history, Crowley took some time to chat about his past.

“The best thing I could say about Keuka is I knew I made the right choice because I don’t ever recall having a bad day at Keuka,” Crowley said by phone from Olean on Thursday.

“When you’re dealing with 18- to 22-year-old students, they’re looking for every reason to have angst, but even as I was going through my four-year career as a student-athlete, I was able to enjoy every day. Certainly there were rough times, and I would have loved to win more games, but there were great people and if I had to do it all over again, I’d pick Keuka every day of the week and twice on Sunday.”

In claiming the school’s first NCAA appearance, Bonaventure sported an 18-game winning streak until suffering a 56-53 setback to Dayton in the A-10 title game. It was the school’s first appearance in the conference championship game, and it came after Crowley’s Bonnies won the school’s first-ever A-10 regular-season title.

It is a remarkable turnaround for Bonaventure, which posted five seasons with single-digit win totals during Crowley’s first eight years, but has won 20-plus games in each of the last four years. Crowley’s career record at Bonaventure stands at 185-177, and he’s the second-longest tenured women’s basketball coach in school history.

Dave Sweet, the current Keuka College Athletic Director and women’s basketball coach, remembered recruiting Crowley out of Windsor, N.Y. as a potential point or shooting guard for the Storm’s men’s basketball team.

Crowley was a four-year letterman for the Storm, including serving as one of the team’s captains for his final three seasons. His leadership potential as a student-athlete was evident to Sweet almost immediately, and Sweet made sure to offer Crowley a coaching position when it became available.

“While he wasn’t the most gifted athlete, Jim always had a good head for the game, and with his knowledge and understanding of the game, those skills helped him become a good Division III ball player for us,” Sweet said recently.

“Jim had a certain leadership ability, and we had an opening to coach the women’s basketball team and we offered it to him, knowing Jim had a good work ethic and he would work hard to make our team’s successful. From that first coaching job here at Keuka he’s blossomed into a tremendous coach.”

In Crowley’s three-year stint leading the women’s basketball team, the Storm posted a 39-37 overall record. Following a 14-11 record in his inaugural campaign, Crowley’s best season at Keuka came during his second year, when the Storm recorded an 18-10 record and qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Upstate New York tournament.

Under Crowley’s watch that year, Keuka advanced into the championship game before suffering a loss to Elmira College, the first of three consecutive ECAC titles for Elmira.

But Crowley was more than just a women’s basketball coach during his time in Keuka Park; he also served as the head men’s and women’s cross country coach during both the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

Jim Crowley, a 1996 Keuka alum and former Keuka women's basketball coach, has guided St. Bonaventure into the Sweet 16 of the 2012 NCAA tournament (photo courtesy of St. Bonaventure Sports Information Department).

Crowley, who graduated from Keuka with a bachelor’s degree in secondary English education, also served as a student-assistant coach with the Keuka men’s basketball team before taking over the reins of the women’s program.

What stood out about Keuka for Crowley was its small student-body size, the intimate feel of the campus, the strong academic programs and the chance to play basketball for an improving program.

Following his time in Keuka, Crowley served as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Bonaventure for four years before being appointed the new women’s head coach in March of 2000.

Sweet said that when Bonaventure called about Crowley’s candidacy for the head coaching gig, he didn’t hesitate to highly recommend Crowley as the eighth women’s basketball coach in school history.

“I gave Jim a real good recommendation because of how much he accomplished here at Keuka,” said Sweet, who credited Crowley’s ability to go out and land talented student-athletes who fit into his basketball system.

“To have one of our own, one of our alumni receive this national honor is tremendous; it reflects highly on Jim and his coaching abilities, but also what Keuka provided for him, both in the classroom and in the gym.”

When Sweet arrived on the Keuka campus in 1984, Keuka was still a women’s college, and the women’s basketball team competed as a club team during the 1983-84 season. But through hard work and dedication, Sweet has overseen the Storm’s rise to a Division III power that has appeared in the NCAA tournament four times in six years.

It is a similar storyline to what Crowley is authoring with the women’s basketball program at Bonaventure.

Crowley said he learned a lot from both Sweet and then-president Dr. Arthur F. Kirk, Jr. about handling adversity and how to, when things weren’t going according to plan, not rely on making excuses but rather surround yourself with the right people, work hard and achieve the desired results.

“Coach Sweet taught me that the best thing you can learn from people is what you would do differently in a certain situation,” said Crowley, who keeps in touch with Sweet, head athletic trainer/assistant athletic director Jeff Bray and Kirk on a semi-regular basis.  

“The message is to be your own man, don’t be someone else, and that’s what I tell my players and assistant coaches. Keuka was such a great place to learn. Coach Sweet and President Kirk were willing to help me get my career going and I can never repay them for that. Keuka helped mold me into the man I am now; it will always hold a special place in my heart.”

Junior Mariah Mouzon scored 11 points with 12 rebounds, but Keuka College's season came to an end with a 39-32 setback to No. 7 Mary Washington Friday night (photo by Robert Critser, SUNYIT Sports Information Department).

BOXSCORE

FREDERICKSBURG, VA.—  In the end, the Cardiac Kids from Keuka College made one heck of a comeback, but ultimately fell just short in its quest for the school’s first-ever NCAA tournament win.

Keuka, which rallied from deficits of 14 points or more in all three North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) playoff games to earn the automatic berth into the NCAA’s, fell behind by scores of 9-0 and 18-1 to the nationally-ranked University of Mary Washington Eagles.

While the Storm had a chance to tie the game late, Keuka’s fantastic season ended 39-32 Friday night inside the William M. Anderson Center.

Junior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) posted another double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and sophomore Taylor Szwec (Candor, NY/Candor) added seven points and seven rebounds for the Storm (19-6), which trailed 27-6 at halftime.

In its lowest-scoring half of the season, the Eagles (28-0) limited Keuka to just 2-for-27 shooting (7.4 percent) in the first half.

“We played a little bit scared in the first half and were intimidated by their aggressive defense, which we knew that’s how they would play coming into the game,” said Katie Marcella, Keuka’s interim head coach.

“These last few weeks, our big thing has been our heart. I thought we left our heart in New York in that first half, then we brought it to Virginia in the second half. We passed well, we cut, we fed off each other and that’s the main difference; we didn’t play scared in the second half.”

Keuka came out fired up in the second half, however, going on a 10-0 run over the first three minutes of the half to pull within 27-16. Mouzon hit a pair of jumpers, sophomore Casey Chamberlain (Perry, NY/Perry) swished a ‘3’, sophomore Danielle Gravel (Sidney, NY/Sidney) added a jumper and Szwec made a free throw during the run.

The Storm’s defense forced Mary Washington to miss its first 12 shots of the second half. Keuka, which had been stymied by the Eagles’ height in the first half, turned the tables on the Eagles in the second, holding Mary Washington, the seventh-ranked team in the country, to just 4-for-23 shooting (17.4 percent) after halftime.

Following a pair of free throws from Aby Diop, Keuka went on a 9-0 run to claw within 29-25 on a free throw from sophomore Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches). Gravel hit a pair of layups and Mouzon and Szwec each added layups during the run, which silenced the crowd of 600 that expected Mary Washington to run away with the first-round matchup.

“As we were coming back in the second half, I felt they [Mary Washington] were a little scared at how well we were coming back; we made a pretty big run on them,” Mouzon said after her sixth double-double of the season.

“They were thinking, ‘wow, [Keuka] came out of the locker room with a whole new team, and this team has really come to play!’ We’ve come back from pretty large deficits before, so I knew we had a chance to come back again tonight.”

Trailing 35-28, Keuka put together one last run. Szwec hit a layup and Mouzon collected an errant three-pointer and hit the layup to draw the Storm within 35-32 with 1:37 remaining. But the Eagles, the nation’s stingiest defense (allowing 41.6 points per game entering the contest), clamped down on Keuka and got a mid-range jumper from Katie Wimmer (game-high 24 points) and two free throws from Wimmer to clinch the win.

Keuka held Mary Washington to its lowest point total of the season, and its fewest points since a 54-38 setback to Marymount University on Feb. 17, 2010.

Chamberlain finished with eight rebounds for Keuka, which shot 11-for-19 (57.9 percent) in the second half.

Mary Washington, which is in the Big Dance for the ninth time, and seventh in the last eight years, advances to face Messiah (Pa.) College in the second round at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

The Storm falls to 0-4 all-time in the NCAA tournament, though this was the closest loss in school history.

For the latest stories, schedules and results from Keuka athletics, visit www.KeukaStorm.com or go to the Keuka Athletics Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/KeukaStorm.

The members of Keuka's women's basketball team participate in Thursday night's practice, on the eve of Friday's NCAA first-round game. (Photo by John Boccacino, Keuka College Sports Information Director)

Live Video From NCAA’s HERE

FREDERICKSBURG, VA. — Since October, the 12 members of Keuka College’s women’s basketball team have spent hundreds of hours practicing their craft in the gym.

Grueling pre-season workouts determined which interested women would make the 2011-12 version of the Green and Gold. Demanding regular-season practices helped the Storm round into form as winners of six straight heading into the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) postseason tournament.

Resiliency and determination fueled the Storm to its second consecutive NEAC title, as Keuka successfully rallied from deficits of 14-plus points in each of its three postseason games.

All their hard work, dedication and time spent practicing the fundamentals of basketball was done with one common goal in mind: to qualify for the annual NCAA Division III tournament.

As tip-off of Keuka’s (19-5) first-round matchup with nationally-ranked University of Mary Washington (27-0) approached Friday afternoon, the magnitude of this special moment began to sink in for Keuka’s captains.

In the second installment of “On the Road With Keuka,” the four captains of the Storm, senior Morgan Engelbert (Elmira, NY/Thomas Edison), junior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) and sophomores Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches) and Taylor Szwec (Candor, NY/Candor) sat down with Sports Information Director John Boccacino to discuss the team’s pre-game preparations, the potential advantages Keuka might hold over the talented Eagles, and on comparisons between Keuka and the infamous Hickory basketball team from “Hoosiers” that won the Indiana state title.

John Boccacino: “Game day has finally arrived, and when Keuka steps onto the court inside the William M. Anderson Center, the Storm will undoubtedly be viewed as underdogs vs. the seventh-ranked Division III team in the country. Does the team relish the underdog role?”

Taylor Szwec: “Yeah, we’re enjoying being the underdog. There’s absolutely no pressure on us. I don’t think anyone thinks we’re going to win, so if we do it will be great, we’ll shock everyone. And it helps having that nothing to lose mentality. The pressure is all on them. They’re 27-0 and they have everything to lose. We want to make a statement early that we’re not going to roll over for them, and we’re here to play.”

Jessica Bandrowski: “That can definitely help us, being the underdog, especially if we start fast. We want to show that we belong and come out and play hard right away. They’re [Mary Washington] probably underestimating us because we’re a small school, and our record isn’t as good as theirs, but if we come out and play hard, maybe we’ll catch them by surprise. They could be thinking ‘this isn’t the team we thought they were’.”

Morgan Engelbert: “It’s important to not let the whole NCAA stage, playing on this big gym with the bright lights get in your head. When it comes down to it, it’s just us on the court playing basketball like we’ve been doing since October. As long as we do that and do what we normally do, I don’t see why we should have any issues because I don’t think there’s any team that’s that much better than us that we can’t stay with and come out with a victory.”

Boccacino: “You guys had your second chance to practice and shoot on the Mary Washington court. What were some of your goals for this afternoon’s shoot around?”

Mariah Mouzon: “We went through what kind of offenses and defenses Mary Washington likes to run, and we practiced defending their players. Then we goofed off, [but] we always goof off in practice to keep it light. We got through what we needed to get through and we know what to expect, so I think it was a good shoot around.”

Boccacino: “I heard some of the players drawing comparisons between the gym at Mary Washington and the scene from the movie, “Hoosiers,” where a small-town team went on to win the state basketball championship. There’s a classic scene in that film when, upon arriving at the site of the state championship, the players are wide-eyed walking into this behemoth of a gym, but Gene Hackman calms his team down by having them measure the distance from the court to the basket to show how the dimensions of the court are the same as their tiny gym back home.”

Szwec: “Yeah, when I walked in the gym I definitely felt like I was in, “Hoosiers,” especially that scene when they’re all thinking the court is so much bigger than their home gym. But we know that the rims are the same height here [as in Keuka Park], and the court is just as long and wide as ours is. The game is played the same, it’s just now we’re at the NCAA’s.”

Bandrowski: “The court definitely looked a little bigger…but we just have to have that same mentality we’ve had all year that we’re going to win today. This is the NCAA’s, so it’s impossible to think of this as a normal game. There’s so much that goes into this game and we all want to play as hard as we can and leave it all on the court.”

Boccacino: “I know Mary Washington is undefeated, but Keuka is sporting a nine-game win streak entering tonight’s contest and we’ve won 11 of 12. Where do you feel Keuka might have an edge on Mary Washington?”

Mouzon: “Our guards are pretty fast and someone like Taylor Szwec is a strength because she crashes the boards really well. We have guards that can rebound as well as our post players who can rebound really well, so I think that’s an advantage for us.”

Engelbert: “They’re known for their defense and they’re holding teams to the least amount of points per game in the country. But we’ve been known for our defense as well, and I think Mary Washington’s game plan is to come out and stop us offensively, but we focus on our defense a lot, and that might not be something they’re used to seeing, a stingy defense. We always focus on that in practice, how we need to force defensive stops first and then let the offense come.”

For live stats from the contest, visit www.KeukaStorm.com/live-stats.

The University of Mary Washington is also offering live video broadcast from the tournament games. Go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/umw-athletics to follow the Storm live on game day.

Keuka College's run to the NCAA tournament was highlighted in a TV story by WETM out of Elmira/Corning (Photo by John Boccacino, Keuka College Sports Information Director)

The Keuka College Storm’s women’s basketball team is making its fourth NCAA tournament appearance in six years, and Keuka’s run to the Big Dance has drawn some attention from WETM-TV out of the Elmira/Corning area.

WETM reporter Mario Sacco made the trek to the Keuka Park campus for a feature story on four members of the Storm (19-5) with strong Southern Tier connections: senior Morgan Engelbert (Elmira, NY/Thomas Edison), junior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy), sophomore Taylor Szwec (Candor, NY/Candor) and freshman Brittany Hadley (Jasper, NY/Jasper-Troupsburg). Check out the feature by clicking here or visiting http://www.wetmtv.com/news/local/story/Local-Connection-Fuels-Keukas-NCAA-Run/UvXNJlPwzkaGI4iOmsoorQ.cspx

Keuka faces the nationally-ranked University of Mary Washington (27-0) at 7 p.m. Friday night in an NCAA first-round game. The winner advances to face the winner of Kean (N.J.) University (22-5) and Messiah (Pa.) College (21-5) at 7 p.m. Friday night.

As a reminder, fans can check out the live stats from Friday night’s NCAA tournament game against the University of Mary Washington by visiting www.KeukaStorm.com/live-stats. Live video, complete with play-by-play, can be found at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/umw-athletics.

The Eagles from Mary Washington captured the Capital Athletic Conference championship and will make their ninth NCAA appearance, and seventh in the last eight years.

Keuka, which fell to William Paterson (N.J.) University by an 81-47 score in the first round of last year’s tournament, has never won an NCAA tournament game in three appearances.

Mary Washington appeared in the Final Four during the 2006-07 season and has made three trips to the Sweet 16.

All games, except the national championship, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The title game will be played March 17 at DeVos Fieldhouse on the campus of Hope College in Holland, Mich.

Keuka, which had to rally from double-digit deficits in each of its three NEAC postseason tournament games, will face a stiff challenge from the Eagles, who are currently ranked seventh in the latest USA Today/ESPN.com Coaches poll. Mary Washington possesses the stingiest scoring defense in the country, surrendering only 41.6 points per game.

The members of Keuka's women's basketball team participate in Thursday night's practice, on the eve of Friday's NCAA first-round game. (Photo by John Boccacino, Keuka College Sports Information Director)

When the members of Keuka College’s women’s basketball team departed from Keuka Park, N.Y. at roughly 8:45 a.m. Thursday morning, the weather was cloudy and overcast, with temperatures in the low 30s.

Fast-forward seven hours later and the surroundings changed dramatically. As the sun shone down on Fredericksburg, Va., site of Keuka’s first-round NCAA tournament game Friday night, the rays were so bright the ladies had to shield their eyes upon walking off of the charter bus, and the temperature had climbed into the high 60s, a far cry from the weather back home.

After checking into their hotel rooms and unpacking their bags, the Storm prepared for the Thursday night practice inside the William M. Anderson Center on the campus of the University of Mary Washington.

In the first installment of “On the Road With Keuka,” the four captains of the Storm, senior Morgan Engelbert (Elmira, NY/Thomas Edison), junior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) and sophomores Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches) and Taylor Szwec (Candor, NY/Candor) sat down with Sports Information Director John Boccacino to discuss the bus ride, their first impressions of Fredericksburg and the mood of the team on the eve of Keuka’s (19-5) showdown with the University of Mary Washington (27-0), the seventh-ranked Division III team in the country.

John Boccacino: “Seven hours together as a team riding a charter bus from Keuka Park to Fredericksburg. How did you ladies spend your bus ride?”

Morgan Engelbert: “Just being on the bus with the team, watching movies, laughing a lot and hanging out was really cool. Plus, once we got here it was really nice out [70 degrees] and we all got to hang out outside in the sun. We were all in a great mood once we stepped off the bus. The whole trip was a fun success, we all bonded, and afterwards we all took a walk to Wegmans for dinner.”

Mariah Mouzon: “It still hasn’t sunk in yet that we’re down here, and it hasn’t kicked in yet that we play tomorrow [Friday] night at 7 p.m. against the No. 7 team in the nation. That’s undefeated, 27-0 Mary Washington! Probably [everything] will hit me around 4:30 p.m. Friday when watching the first game [between Kean (N.J.) University and Messiah (PA.) College, but right now I’m still confident that we can go through and do this and we’ll be fine. I think we’re all feeling really loose.”

Boccacino: “Describe the mood of the team heading into the biggest game of the season?”

Taylor Szwec: “It’s great being down here as a team. We are all bonding and we’re pumped to be here. We just want to represent for Keuka down here, and that’s a cool feeling. The fact that no one down here has really heard of us and we’re playing in the NCAA tournament, that’s pretty cool. We’re representing the small schools down here.”

Boccacino: “Keuka is a young squad, with only one senior and two juniors. How is the team handling the potential pressure of playing in an NCAA game against a top-10 squad?”

Jessica Bandrowski: “Morgan has really been getting us pumped up, all year long but especially now. Before every game, she tries to get everyone hyped up, and her intensity motivates us and gets us up for the big games. This is a motivated team and we have a lot of energy before the game to get us pumped up. Morgan leads by example, then everybody else gets the vibe off of how Morgan is so into it. I know she gets me pumped up for games and once Morgan gets going, everyone feeds off of her energy.”

Boccacino: “One of the first places we saw once we pulled into our hotel was a local Wegmans. Does that help the team, seeing a familiar sight in an unfamiliar city?”

Mariah Mouzon: “When you talk about superstitions, it’s a good thing we have a Wegmans nearby because typically we do eat Wegmans before all of our games, so that works out well. It helps makes us feel comfortable.”

Boccacino: “With the biggest game of the season looming, how important is it for the team to remain calm, focused and not get distracted by the opponent/playing in the NCAA tournament?”

Morgan Engelbert: “At this point it’s more important for us to have a relaxed mood and not over-think what’s going on right now. Tonight is all about having some fun, relaxing and bonding as a team. We will take advantage of tonight’s practice and when tomorrow rolls around we’ll pick up the intensity and come to the gym ready to play. If we try to do too much now, especially with us being a young team, it can get overwhelming with all this pressure on us when we don’t want to feel that way. We traveled farther than any other team that’s playing here this weekend, and I think that gives us a chip on our shoulder. We have business to take care of so we need to do that.”

Check back Friday for another installment of “On the Road With Keuka.”

As a reminder, fans can check out the live stats from Friday night’s NCAA tournament game against the University of Mary Washington by visiting www.KeukaStorm.com/live-stats. Live video, complete with play-by-play, can be found at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/umw-athletics.

The Keuka College Storm women's basketball team is headed to Virginia for a first-round NCAA game against undefeated and nationally-ranked University of Mary Washington at 7 p.m. Friday night.

  John Boccacino/Sports Information Director

The Keuka College Storm women’s basketball team is headed to Fredericksburg, Va. for its first-round NCAA tournament game.

The two-time defending North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) champions from Keuka (19-5), who earned the NEAC’s automatic qualifier spot in the tournament, will face the undefeated and nationally-ranked University of Mary Washington (27-0) in an NCAA first-round game at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 2.

The winner of the Keuka/Mary Washington first-round contest will face either Messiah College (21-5) or Kean (NJ) University (22-5) in a second-round game Saturday at Mary Washington. Both Messiah and Kean earned at-large berths into the NCAA tournament.

This is Keuka’s fourth NCAA appearance in the last six years, while the Eagles from Mary Washington captured the Capital Athletic Conference championship and will make their ninth NCAA appearance, and seventh in the last eight years.

Keuka, which fell to William Paterson (N.J.) University by an 81-47 score in the first round of last year’s tournament, has never won an NCAA tournament game in three appearances.

Mary Washington appeared in the Final Four during the 2006-07 season and has made three trips to the Sweet 16.

All games, except the national championship, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The title game will be played March 17 at DeVos Fieldhouse on the campus of Hope College in Holland, Mich.

Keuka, which had to rally from double-digit deficits in each of its three NEAC postseason tournament games, will face a stiff challenge from the Eagles, who are currently ranked seventh in the latest USA Today/ESPN.com Coaches poll. Mary Washington possesses the stingiest scoring defense in the country, surrendering only 41.6 points per game.

Sophomore Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches) is coming off a career-high 30 points during Keuka’s 66-63 win over SUNYIT Sunday in the NEAC title game that earned the second-team All-NEAC guard Tournament MVP honors.

Bandrowski had plenty of help from her teammates in the title game, as sophomore Taylor Szwec (Candor, NY/Candor) scored 14 points with seven rebounds while sophomore Casey Chamberlain (Perry, NY/Perry) snared a game-high 13 rebounds in the win over SUNYIT.

Classmate Danielle Gravel (Sidney, NY/Sidney) earned first-team All-NEAC after leading the Storm in scoring average (14 ppg.) and made three-pointers (52). Gravel had a monster NEAC tournament, scoring a combined 46 points over the three wins, while junior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) had a huge double-double of 24 points and 16 rebounds during Saturday’s 74-62 overtime win over Penn State-Harrisburg in the semis.

As a team, the Storm is averaging 64.3 points per game while allowing 55.3 points per game, outscoring the competition by nine points per game.

Only two Eagles, Jenna McRae (12.8 ppg.) and Katie Wimmer (12.7 ppg.) average in double-figures for an attack that is averaging 63.1 ppg. Mary Washington’s defense limited the opposition to just 29.5 percent shooting from the field, and 27.7 percent on three-pointers.

For live stats from the contest, visit www.KeukaStorm.com/live-stats.

The University of Mary Washington is also offering a live video broadcast of the game. To view the video, go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/umw-athletics or click here.

For the third straight game in the NEAC postseason tournament, Keuka College fell behind by double-digits, but the Storm used a 19-2 run to rally and defeat SUNYIT 66-63 Sunday afternoon (photo by Robert Critser, SUNYIT Sports Information Department).

BOXSCORE

By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director — There was a moment during Sunday’s North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) women’s basketball championship game in Utica when it looked as if the Keuka College Storm might have run out of magic.

For the third straight NEAC playoff game, the members of the Storm found themselves trailing by double-digits against a quality opponent, SUNYIT, the conference’s regular-season champions.

Keuka, the defending NEAC champions, started fast in its quest for a repeat championship, but the Storm trailed 37-22 after the Wildcats went on a big 16-1 run late in the half.

Then sophomore Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches), the eventual Tournament MVP, took over. The guard hit back-to-back three-pointers late in the half and buried a half-court heave that beat the buzzer to give the Storm momentum heading into the second half down only 39-35.

Keuka (19-5) would go on a 19-2 run bridging the two halves and went on to defeat SUNYIT (22-5) for the third time during the 2011-12 season, winning 66-63 inside SUNYIT’s Campus Center Gym to earn the school’s third appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament in the last five years.

The Storm is the only NEAC team to defeat the Wildcats this year, having previously won 68-60 at SUNYIT on Jan. 28 and 62-60 at home on Feb. 11.

Bandrowski finished with a career-high 30 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while classmate Taylor Szwec (Candor, NY/Candor) knocked down two big ‘3s’ and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds as the Storm rallied from another big deficit.

“We’re playing our best basketball at the right time,” said Bandrowski, a second-team All-NEAC pick who scored 46 points with 16 assists, 13 rebounds and 11 steals over three tournament games to earn MVP honors.

“I tried my best and I knew that this was our game and we had to win this. My shots weren’t on the past couple of games, but I knew that I could come out strong in this game and pick it up for my team and that’s exactly what I did. This is such a great feeling!”

Junior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) made a clutch layup to snap a 58-all game and finished with nine points and eight rebounds while sophomore Casey Chamberlain (Perry, NY/Perry) added 13 rebounds as the Storm enjoyed a 50-42 edge on the glass.

The championship wasn’t decided until the final possession. Leading 49-48, Szwec and Bandrowski each drove the lane and finished their layups and Bandrowski made a pair of free throws for a 55-48 lead.

SUNYIT answered with a 10-2 run, capped by a ‘3’ from Lyndsey Brognano (17 points), the NEAC’s Player of the Year, to take a 58-57 lead.

After Szwec knocked down a three-pointer with 2:52 remaining, Keuka led 63-61. Szwec then went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line and Chamberlain made a free throw to put the Storm up 65-61.

SUNYIT’s Kayla McNeil (19 points, 11 rebounds) hit a jumper with 46 seconds left to trim Keuka’s lead to 65-63, but following an offensive rebound from Szwec, Bandrowski swished a free throw for a 66-63 lead. Following a SUNYIT timeout, the Storm defense forced the Wildcats into a difficult three-point shot that missed the mark, sending the Storm into a frenzied celebration.

“We’re so excited, this is great and it shows the strength of our team that we’re able to rally for these big wins,” Szwec said. “We trust each other now and we’ve overcome so much adversity, this is a huge win. We’re peaking at the right time, for sure. This [making NCAA’s] has always been a goal for us, and another goal now is to win an NCAA game, which would be the first in school history.”

Keuka will have to wait until 2:30 p.m. on Monday, when the NCAA has its Division III selection show, to learn its first-round opponent, date and location. Last year, Keuka fell to William Paterson (N.J.) University 81-47 in the first round. Be sure to check back Monday afternoon for a story outlining Keuka’s NCAA first round opponent.

The Storm started fast versus SUNYIT, as Bandrowski made three ‘3s’ and sophomore Danielle Gravel (Sidney, NY/Sidney) added a triple as Keuka jumped out to a 12-2 lead four minutes in.

Then it was SUNYIT’s turn to make a run, as the Wildcats used a 15-4 spurt to take a 17-16 lead when Brognano hit a free throw for a 17-16 lead with 12:33 remaining. It was SUNYIT’s first lead of the championship, but not the Wildcats’ last lead.

After freshman Brittany Hadley (Jasper, NY/Jasper-Troupsburg) scored back-to-back buckets, SUNYIT went on a 16-1 run to take a 37-22 lead, the third straight NEAC playoff game where Keuka trailed by at least 14 points.

The Cardiac Kids from Keuka did it again at the end of the first half. The Storm closed out the half on a 13-2 run as Bandrowski hit back-to-back treys and Szwec hit a pair of free throws.

Sophomore Jessica Bandrowski earned NEAC Tournament MVP honors after scoring a career-high 30 points as Keuka rallied from a 15-point deficit to earn its third NCAA appearance in five years (photo by Robert Critser, SUNYIT Sports Information Department).

Trailing 39-32, and with the clock winding down, Bandrowski took the inbounds pass, reached midcourt and heaved a half-court shot that beat the buzzer to pull Keuka within 39-35 in a play that gave Keuka some much-needed momentum heading into halftime.

Bandrowski scored 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 6-of-8 from three-point range, to keep the Storm close in the first half.

“I definitely didn’t think the shot was going to go in,” a smiling Bandrowski said after the game while clutching her MVP trophy.

“That was a huge lift for us and we all knew we had a chance to complete the comeback. We’re a strong team and we have confidence in ourselves and we’re going to just keep on fighting and try our best to win it all.”

For the latest stories, schedules and results from Keuka athletics, visit www.KeukaStorm.com or go to the Keuka Athletics Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/KeukaStorm.

Junior Mariah Mouzon scored a season-high 24 points and collected a career-best 18 rebounds as Keuka College's women's basketball team rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat Penn State-Harrisburg 74-62 in overtime Saturday (photo courtesy of Robert Critser, SUNYIT Sports Information Department).

BOXSCORE

Just call them the Cardiac Kids from Keuka College.

For the second straight game in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) postseason tournament, the members of the Keuka College women’s basketball team trailed by double-figures in the second half of a win-or-go-home playoff game.

And for the second straight game, the Storm staged a frantic rally to keep its season alive.

Now the defending NEAC champions from Keuka are one win away from a third trip to the NCAA Division III tournament in the last five years, thanks to Saturday’s 74-62 come-from-behind win over Penn State-Harrisburg in the SUNYIT Campus Center Gym.

Junior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) snared a career-high 18 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass, and added a season-high 24 points while sophomore Danielle Gravel (Sidney, NY/Sidney) added 18 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals as the Storm rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to advance into the NEAC championship game.

Sophomore Casey Chamberlain (Perry, NY/Perry) chipped in with 15 points and five rebounds, classmate Taylor Szwec (Candor, NY/Candor) added a career-high 13 rebounds as the Storm (18-5) enjoyed a 52-41 edge in rebounding vs. Harrisburg (19-7).

Sophomore Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches) added 8 points, 7 assists and 5 steals for Keuka, which closed out the second half on a 21-7 run to force overtime.

“A lot of the girls talked both before the game and during the game about how we weren’t going to lose this game,” said Katie Marcella, Keuka’s interim head coach whose team rallied from a 37-21 second-half deficit vs. Cobleskill in the NEAC quarterfinals.

“We knew what we were capable of and we showed that towards the end of the game. We’ve grown a lot these last two weeks, not just with the SUNY Cobleskill game and this game, but we’ve just grown as a team with the confidence they have in each other and that I have in them.”

Keuka, the No. 2 seed from the North, will square off against SUNYIT (22-4), the North’s top seed, at 2 p.m. Sunday in the conference championship back at SUNYIT.

SUNYIT held off a rally from Lancaster Bible and emerged with a 69-67 win in Saturday’s other semifinal. Keuka was the only NEAC team to defeat the Wildcats this year, beating SUNYIT 68-60 Jan. 28 and 62-60 at home on Feb. 11.

In the semifinals, the Storm found itself down 52-38 when Harrisburg’s Dorothea Dixon made a pair of free throws with 11:52 remaining before Keuka went on an 11-0 run, capped by a jumper from Mouzon. Five different players scored during the spurt for the Storm.

Bandrowski hit two free throws to pull Keuka within 59-55, and after Mouzon converted a layup and made the free throw for a three-point play, Gravel went 1-for-2 at the line to slice the Harrisburg edge to 59-58. Bandrowski hit 1 of 2 free throws with 15 seconds left to knot the score, and Keuka’s defense did not allow Harrisburg to get a good look at the end of regulation.

The Nittany Lions, who beat Keuka 69-35 on Jan. 15, went the final 5:16 of regulation scoreless, going 0-for-10 from the field down the stretch.

In the extra session, Gravel hit a pair of free throws for Keuka’s first lead since five minutes were left in the first half. Harrisburg answered with a three-point play from Amanda Moyer to take a 62-61 lead, but the Storm scored the game’s final 13 points to win its eighth straight game.

Chamberlain swished a ‘3’ and Mouzon hit baskets on three consecutive trips down the court to give Keuka a 70-62 advantage with 1:49 remaining in overtime. Bandrowski and Mouzon then clinched the win by hitting a pair of free throws for Keuka, which went a perfect 6-for-6 at the line in the extra session.

“I was very impressed with our composure, they were definitely nervous but we did what we needed to do today, we tied the game and put us into overtime,” Marcella said.

“The girls knew what we were capable of and if we were patient on the offensive end we could get great looks, and you saw that with that big ‘3’ from Casey and in the overtime. We knew that if we got to overtime and if we came back from that deficit there was no way we were going to lose that game.”

Keuka jumped out to an 8-0 lead over the first three minutes and led 10-2 before the Nittany Lions used a 14-5 run to take a 16-15 lead with 8:42 left in the first half. After Mouzon hit a free throw to put Keuka up 23-22, Harrisburg closed out the half on a 10-4 run and led 32-27 at intermission.

The Storm shot 25-for-57 (43.9 percent) from the floor while holding Harrisburg to 23-for-74 shooting (31.1 percent), including 6-for-30 (20 percent) on three-pointers.

Up next for Keuka is a matchup with SUNYIT, which features NEAC Player of the Year Lyndsey Brognano, who averaged 18.2 ppg. in the regular-season and scored 22 points during the semifinal win over Lancaster Bible.

Mouzon enjoyed tremendous success during the Storm’s two regular-season wins over SUNYIT. Mouzon scored 23 points with 17 rebounds during the road win and added 20 points and eight boards in the home win over SUNYIT.

Be sure to check out the live stats from Keuka’s NEAC championship game by visiting www.keukastorm.com/live-stats on game day.

Sophomore Danielle Gravel and the Keuka College women's basketball team travels to Utica Saturday afternoon for a NEAC semifinal against Penn State-Harrisburg.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW LIVE STATS

The members of the defending North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) champion Keuka College women’s basketball team pulled off a monumental comeback during Tuesday night’s home quarterfinal contest against SUNY Cobleskill, and the team is hoping that momentum carries over into Saturday’s NEAC semifinal.

The Storm (17-5), the No. 2 seed in the NEAC North Division, faces Penn State-Harrisburg (19-6), the top seed from the South, in one semifinal at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon at SUNYIT in Utica, NY. Lancaster Bible College (15-11), the No. 3 team in the South, squares off with SUNYIT, the top team from the North, at 4 p.m. in the other semifinal.

The championship game is 2 p.m. Sunday back at SUNYIT.

Facing Cobleskill, Keuka fell behind 37-21 early in the second half, and the situation looked bleak as the Storm saw only two players score during the game’s first 22 minutes: sophomore Danielle Gravel (Sidney, NY/Sidney), a first-team All-NEAC guard, scored 20 of Keuka’s first 21 points while classmate Casey Chamberlain (Perry, NY/Perry) made a free throw.

That was the extent of the scoring for the Storm, who despite trailing at home never gave up and used a 9-0 run to spark a big comeback as Keuka held off Cobleskill 50-48 behind 25 points, 4 steals and 3 rebounds from Gravel and 10 points and five boards from Chamberlain.

Trailing 48-47 and with the season on the line, sophomore Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches) drove the lane late hoping to put the defending NEAC champions from Keuka up for good.

Instead of shooting, Bandrowski delivered an accurate pass to Chamberlain, who made the layup with 3.2 seconds left and converted the ensuing free throw for a three-point play and a 50-48 lead. Bandrowski then stole the inbounds pass to clinch the win, Keuka’s seventh straight and ninth in its last 10 games.

“That win over Cobleskill, we could have given up, and we have during the season, but we fought back and that kind of win can be a huge boost for us,” going forward, said Chamberlain.

“We’ve been playing more like a team every day and we’re pretty excited to be moving on in the tournament.”

Keuka had better be prepared for the Nittany Lions, who handed the Storm a 69-35 loss on Jan. 15. Interim head coach Katie Marcella said the Storm is a different team than the squad that fell by 34 points to the first-place Nittany Lions, who except for a loss to SUNYIT went undefeated in NEAC play.

“We definitely have the potential to win it all and we’ve definitely gotten better since then, we’re on a nice winning streak and we’re definitely playing more like a team,” Marcella said. “We didn’t come into that first game [with Harrisburg] mentally prepared, I don’t know why, but it was a learning experience for us. We have to come in with the mindset that we can beat them; it doesn’t matter if we lost to them before, they are beatable and if we come ready to play we should hopefully come out on top.”

Harrisburg features four players who score in double-figures: Daril Foose (12.8 ppg.), Monet Cunningham (12.6 ppg.), Stephanie Yetter (12.3 ppg.) and Amanda Moyer (10.7 pp.g).

Harrisburg is averaging 67.3 ppg. while allowing only 54.2 ppg. Keuka is averaging 63.8 ppg. while allowing only 54.6 ppg.

Fans who cannot make the trek to Utica can still follow the Storm’s semifinal contest by checking out the Live Stats feature. Visit www.KeukaStorm.com/live-stats to track the Storm’s quest for another NEAC championship.

For the latest stories, schedules and results from Keuka athletics, visit www.KeukaStorm.com or go to the Keuka Athletics Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/KeukaStorm.