Sage falls in Skyline Conference Quarterfinals in heartbreaker, 60-58
Old Westbury, NY---The Sage Colleges women's basketball team travelled to SUNY-Old Westbury on Tuesday for the quarterfinals of the 2010 Skyline Conference Women's Basketball Championship. The Panthers triumphed 60-58 to advance to the semifinals at top seeded Mt. Saint Mary College on Thursday, February 24 at 8 p.m. With the win, Old Westbury improves to 19-6 on the year, while Sage's season comes to an end at 10-14.
For the contest, OW's freshman guard Kim Weathers (Wyandanch, NY/Wyandanch) led all scorers with 27 points with 14 in the second half of play. Senior Brittany Jones (Elmont, NY/Elmont Memorial) broke a 58-58 tie with pair of free throws 0:08 left to play.
Sage led 31-29 at the half as junior guard Sarah Carciobolo (Niskayuna, NY/Colonie) had 14 of her team-best 17 bests in the first stanza. Sage clawed their way back in the second half as they trailed by eight points, down 52-44 with 6:49 left to play. Spurring the run for the Gators was Carciobolo with clutch three pointers and sophomore Carly Vallee (East Greenbush, NY/Catholic Central), pulling Sage within one point twice in the final two minutes.
By game's end, Carciobolo connected on five three-pointers and 17 points, while sophomore Kara Hackett's (Peru, NY/Peru Central) had 15 points with seven rebounds, and a blocked shot, giving her a team-best 17 on the season and elevating her career total to 39, which is fifth best on the Gator career list.
Sage's rookie forward Chelsea Martin (Davenport, NY/Jefferson Central) led the team with eight rebounds with five assists, but was held scoreless for the time all season. The contest marked the final career appearance for Sage's two seniors, Jessica Byerwalters (Coeymans Hollow, NY/Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk) and Liz Donk (Phelps, NY/Midlakes). Donk had five points with three assists and two steals in the contest. For her career, Donk appeared in 70 games with 297 assists, 491 points, and 312 rebounds, while converting 142 free throws, all among the Top 15 on the Gator career list. Her 297 assists ranks No. 2 at Sage on the career list. Byerwalters tallied nine points with six rebounds and two assists on Tuesday. Overall on her career, she tallied 451 points in 44 games played with 86 assists and 275 rebounds.
OW's rookie forward Ruth Vargas (Harlem, NY/Brentwood) added 13 points and the key steal in the final seconds of action to end Sage's run to tie the action before regulation time expired.
Overall on the 2010-2011 season, Sage's women's basketball team earned the program's first Skyline Conference tournament bid, while also adding new program marks for most three point baskets made (136) and attempted (443), assists (316), while also ranking in the Top 5 in several additional statistical categories for single-season marks.
