Sydney Alton with coaches Dan Glover, Dan Gerken and Payce Lange during Senior Day on Feb. 21, 2021.
The D'Youville women's basketball team celebrated Senior Day at the College Center Gymnasium Sunday afternoon to complete a weekend series with Roberts Wesleyan, but the Redhawks spoiled the festivities with a strong second half to pull away from the Saints, 86-63.
Sunday's setback saw the Saints drop to 1-5 on the season and 0-4 in East Coast Conference play while the visiting Redhawks improved to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in league action.
The Redhawks, who took game one Friday evening, jumped out to an early 5-0 advantage before sophomore guard Sara Pfeiffer and junior guard Riley Riedel combined for buckets on back-to-back possessions, as Pfieffer drilled a jumper off an assist from senior guard Sydney Alton and Riedel cashed in from the beyond the three-point arc to pull the Saints level two-and-a-half minutes into the game. Riedel connected for her second three of the quarter on the Saints' next possession, awarding D'Youville their first lead of the afternoon. Ahead by two with three minutes left in the opening quarter, sophomore guard Elizabeth Bradley connected from downtown to push the D'Youville advantage to five points. Sophomore guard/forward Haley Kirisits' jumper kept the lead at five at the end of the first and she opened the scoring in the second period with a layup, extending D'Youville's advantage to 21-14.
The Redhawks made their run in the second quarter, scoring 14 of the first 21 points in the period to retake a two-point lead at the under-five minute media break. Six consecutive free throws from Riedel and senior guard/forward Kelsey Carpenter helped the Saints stay in the game at the halftime whistle, trailing by a narrow 35-32 margin.
Kirisits' second jumper of the third quarter quieted a 9-2 run but the Redhawks had opened an 11-point lead after forward Paige McCormick added a three on the ensuing Redhawk possession. By the end of the third quarter, the Red Hawks had opened their lead to 22 points as the Redhawks heated up to 82.4 percent (14-17 FG) from the field and 80.0 percent (4-5 3PT) from beyond the arc, scoring 33 points in the third quarter.
Notables – Alton was honored before the game as D'Youville's lone graduating senior, with Carpenter slated to used her extra year of eligibility next season ... The Saints were led in scoring by Riedel (16 points, 5-10 FG), Kirisits (14 points, 7-8 FG), and Bradley (9 points, 3-10FG) ... as a team, the Saints shot 32.9 percent (23-79 FG) and 19.4 percent (6-31 3 PT) from beyond the arc.
Four Redhawks posted double-figure scoring efforts, paced by center Dimitra Gkizani (19 points, 7-10 FG), guard Georgia Haverlock (17 points, 5-10 FG), guard Taryn Wilson (15 points, 5-10 FG) and McCormick (11 points, 4-9 FG) ... The Redhawks controlled the paint in Sunday's contest, outrebounding the Saints 57-34 and outscoring the hosts 42-20 in the paint.
Up Next – The Saints and Redhawks will meet once more on Wednesday, Feb. 24, this time at the Valor Athletic Center in Rochester, N.Y. Tip-off for D'Youville's final road game of the season is slated for 7 p.m.
Follow the Saints - You can follow the team on Twitter (@DY_WBB) and Instagram (@dy_wbb).
The D'Youville women's basketball team returned to the College Center Gymnasium Sunday afternoon to complete a weekend series with Roberts Wesleyan. The Redhawks used a strong second half to pull away from the Saints, 86-63, after only leading by three points at halftime.
Sunday's setback saw the Saints drop to 1-5 on the season and 0-4 in East Coast Conference play while the guests improved to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in league action.
The Redhawks, who took game one Friday evening, jumped out to an early 5-0 advantage before sophomore guard Sara Pfeiffer and junior guard Riley Riedel combined for buckets on back-to-back possessions, first Pfieffer drilled a jumper off an assist from senior guard Sydney Alton and Riedel cashed in from the beyond the three-point arc to pull the Saints level two-and-a-half minutes into the game. Alton was honored before the game as D'Youville's lone senior not returning next season. Riedel connected for her second three of the quarter on the Saints' next possession, awarding D'Youville their first lead of the afternoon. Ahead by two with three minutes left in the opening quarter, sophomore guard Elizabeth Bradley connected from downtown to push the D'Youville advantage to five points. Sophomore guard/forward Haley Kirisits' jumper kept the lead at five at the end of the first and she opened the scoring in the second period with a layup, extending D'Youville's advantage to 21-14.
The Redhawks made their run in the second quarter, scoring 14 of the first 21 points in the period to retake a two-point lead at the under-five minute media break. Six consecutive free throws from Riedel and senior guard/forward Kelsey Carpenter helped the Saints stay in the game at the halftime whistle as the Saints trailed 35-32.
Kirisits' second jumper of the third quarter quieted a 9-2 run but the Redhawks had opened an 11-point lead after Paige McCormick added a three on the ensuing Redhawk possession. By the end of the third quarter, the Red Hawks had opened their lead to 22-points as the Redhawks heated up to 82.4 percent (14-17 FG) from the field and 80.0 percent (4-5 3PT) from beyond the arc and scoring 33 points in the third quarter.
Notables – The Saints were led in scoring by Riedel (16 points, 5-10 FG), Kirisits (14 points, 7-8 FG), and Bradley (9 points, 3-10FG) … as a team, the Saints shot 32.9 percent (23-79 FG) and 19.4 percent (6-31 3 PT) from beyond the arc.
Four Redhawks posted double figure efforts in scoring, paced by center Dimitra Gkizani (19 points, 7-10 FG), guard Georgia Haverlock (17 points, 5-10 FG), guard Taryn Wilson (15 points, 5-10 FG) and McCormick (11 points, 4-9 FG) … The Redhawks controlled the paint in Sunday's setback, outrebounding the Saints 57-34 and outscored the hosts 42-20 in the paint.
Up Next – The Saints and Redhawks will meet once more on Wednesday (Feb. 24) this time in at the Valor Athletic Center. Tip-off for D'Youville's final road assignment of the season is slated for 7 p.m.
Follow the Saints - Tune into this Sunday's ECC battle live on ECC Network and track the action through Presto Sports. You can also follow this weekend's matchups on Twitter (@DY_WBB) and Instagram (@dy_wbb).
