DANBURY, CT — Senior Carly Murphy (Wolcott, CT) scored 14 points to lead the Western Connecticut State University women's basketball team to a 55-40 victory over SUNY Oneonta in the season opener for both teams tonight at Feldman Arena.
Oneonta was led by freshman
Lyteshia Price (Liverpool/Liverpool), who led all scorers with 18 points in her collegiate debut. Sophomore
Sarah Longto (Kingston/Kingston) grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Scoring in double figures for Western was sophomore Caroline Brasa (East Hartford, CT) with 11 points. Junior Sciarra Brandt (Thomaston, CT) pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Colonials.
Western jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, keeping Oneonta scoreless for the game's first two minutes. Oneonta closed the gap to 10-7, but the Western defense held the visitors scoreless over the next six minutes to build a 15-7 lead. Western's largest lead of the half came with five minutes remaining when sophomore Amber Litwinko (Berlin, CT) hit a layup for a nine-point lead, 20-11. The Red Dragons narrowed the margin to four points with one minute remaining, but Brasa hit the final bucket of the half for a 28-22 Western lead at halftime.
The Oneonta offense struggled to score against the Western defense for much of the second half, managing only four points over the first six minutes of the second period, and then being held scoreless for an eight-minute stretch as Western moved out to a 41-28 lead with six minutes remaining in the game. A layup by senior Jackie Zilnicki (Riverhead, NY) gave Western its largest lead of the game at 47-29 with three minutes remaining, and the Colonials cruised to a 55-40 final margin of victory.
For the game, Western held a 40-37 advantage in rebounds. Western finished shooting 38.9% from the floor and 75.0% from the line, while Oneonta hit 28.3% and 41.2%, respectively.
Oneonta will travel to Norton, MA this weekend to compete in the Wheaton Tip-off tournament. The Red Dragons will face New Jersey City University on Saturday at 4pm.
Newspaper Box Score
WESTERN CONNECTICUT 55, ONEONTA STATE 40
SUNY ONEONTA (0-1)
PRICE, Lyteshia 7-11 1-5 18; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 2-12 4-4 8; SCHILLING,Grace 3-9 0-3 6; LONGTO, Sarah 1-4 2-3 4; MULLIGAN, Kelly 1-6 0-2 2; BRODHEAD, Shamari 1-3 0-0 2; NELSON, Rebecca 0-0 0-0 0; CARISEO, Caitlin 0-1 0-0 0; LOOMIS, Bryn 0-4 0-0 0; CRAWFORD, Alyshia 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-53 7-17 40.
WESTERN CONNECTICUT (1-0)
Carly Murphy 6-12 1-2 14; Caroline Brasa 4-10 2-2 11; Chelsea Mone 4-7 0-0 9; Sciarra Brandt 2-7 0-0 6; Nicole Eanniello 2-3 1-2 6; Amber Litwinko 2-4 0-0 5; Jackie Zilnicki 1-6 0-0 2; Marisa Delzio 0-5 2-2 2; Brittany Brandt 0-0 0-0 0; Melissa DiNino 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 6-8 55.
3-point goals—SUNY Oneonta 3-11 (PRICE, Lyteshia 3-4; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 0-5; SCHILLING, Grace 0-1; MULLIGAN, Kelly 0-1), Western Connecticut 7-21 (Sciarra Brandt 2-4; Amber Litwinko 1-2; Carly Murphy 1-4; Nicole Eanniello 1-1; Chelsea Mone 1-1; Caroline Brasa 1-5; Marisa Delzio 0-2; Jackie Zilnicki 0-2).
Fouled out—SUNY Oneonta -None, Western Connecticut-None.
Rebounds—SUNY Oneonta 37 (LONGTO, Sarah 8), Western Connecticut 40 (Sciarra Brandt 7).
Assists—SUNY Oneonta 11 (LOOMIS, Bryn 4), Western Connecticut 17 (Jackie Zilnicki 3; Sciarra Brandt 3; Marisa Delzio 3).
Total fouls—SUNY Oneonta 14, Western Connecticut 16.
Technical fouls—SUNY Oneonta State-None, Western Connecticut-None.
A-234.
