PURCHASE, N.Y. --- (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) SUNY Old Westbury women's basketball snapped its three-game skid Thursday evening with a 58-43 Skyline Conference road triumph over the Purchase College Panthers (2-11, 1-7 Skyline) inside Purchase College Gymnasium in Purchase, New York. With the win, Old Westbury (6-9, 6-4 Skyline) improves to 11-0 against Purchase dating back to the 2014-15 campaign.
Shadai Plowden scored five points as part of Purchase's 7-2 run in the game's opening four minutes. Old Westbury was able to pull within one off Micah Browne's jumper at the 1:23 mark (8-7) before Amber Rodriguez laid in two to put Purchase back up by three, 10-7, to close out the first quarter. Phalan Smith dropped in two of her 12 second-quarter points to ignite a dominating 22-5 Old Westbury spurt from 8:44 to 1:05 for the 29-15 lead. Alyssa Aurora knocked down a three-pointer with 43 seconds left for Purchase to send the 29-18 game into intermission.
La'Niya Clark connected from deep 16 seconds into third-quarter play to build Old Westbury's 14-point cushion, 32-18. Purchase battled to trim the double-digit deficit over the remaining 5:55 of the third by putting together a 13-8 run to trail by nine, 40-31, going into the final quarter. Purchase got in as close as eight (45-37) off a jumper by Reina Lebron with 7:33 showing on the fourth-quarter clock. Ja'nya Flash finished a three-point play at the 6:45 mark to kickstart Old Westbury's 13-4 and extend the lead to a game-high 17 points, 58-41, before Jazzmyne Hernandez sank a pair of free-throws for Purchase to settle the 58-53 final.
In her first-career start, Smith led all scorers with career highs of 15 points (7-of-15 FG), seven rebounds (four offensive) and four steals to lead Old Westbury to victory.
Davida Warren followed with 14 points, game-high 18 rebounds (10 offensive) and three steals to post her 29th-career double-double (ninth on the season). Clark chipped in with 11 points and two steals. Browne poured in 10 points (8-of-12 FT), dished out five assists and nabbed four steals while Flash pulled down 10 rebounds (five offensive).
Plowden finished with 14 points and two steals while Arta Krasniqi added 10 rebounds, five assists and a game high four blocks to pace Purchase.
Old Westbury shot 31.8 percent (21-of-66) from the field, 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from three-point range and 50 percent (12-of-24) from the free-throw line. By comparison, Purchase landed 31.5 percent (17-of-54) from the floor, 20 percent (4-of-20) from deep and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from the charity stripe. Old Westbury won the boards battle, 53-34, and scored 15 second chance points off 23 offensive rebounds while outplaying Purchase in assists (13-11), steals (15-7), fastbreak points (17-9), points in the paint (20-14) and scored 19 points off 22 Purchase miscues. Purchase held the edge in blocks (5-0) and bench scoring (8-3).
UP NEXT:
Old Westbury returns to campus next Wednesday (Jan. 22) for a Skyline Conference battle against the Sarah Lawrence College Gryphons at 6 p.m. inside Clark Athletic Center. Old Westbury will enter next Wednesday's matchup 5-0 against Sarah Lawrence since the Gryphons joined the Skyline two seasons ago.
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