The Pioneer Trail: Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015
Women's Basketball vs. NYIT - 5 p.m.The second-oldest rivalry in the history of the LIU Post women's basketball program resumes this evening, as the Pioneers face NYIT at the Pratt Recreation Center. This will be the 64th time that these two squads will face off in the annual "Battle of the Boulevard", and though the green and gold have the all-time edge (51-12), their opponents enter tonight's contest as the best team in the East Coast Conference.
LIU Post (9-6, 5-2 ECC) dropped their last game, a tight 77-71 affair at the hands of Queens on Saturday (Jan. 17) in Flushing, N.Y. Senior guard
Chelsea Williams (Copiague, N.Y.) led the Pioneers with 25 points and eight rebounds, shooting 8-of-15 from the field, including a 50% (3-6) performance from three-point range. Red-shirt senior forward
Jessica Little (Wyandanch, N.Y.) also proved herself to be capable from behind the arc, knocking down four of her six attempts. Little finished the game with 14 points while junior forward
Kalinka DeRoche (New Haven, Conn.) chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds.
The Pioneers shot a scintillating 52% (25-48) from the field in the game, but it was a combination of field-goal defense and ball control that led to the team's demise. Queens shot 52% (30-58) from the field in the contest, while LIU Post committed 20 turnovers and forced just 13 takeways.
NYIT (12-2, 7-0 ECC) has won four straight games to start off 2015, including a 71-67 victory over Molloy on Saturday (Jan. 17) in Old Westbury, N.Y. Junior forward Dina Ragab (Cairo, Egypt) had a career game with 32 points on a 9-for-13 field goal shooting performance. Ragab also pulled down 10 rebounds for the Bears while sophomore guard Julie Williams (Smithtown, N.Y.) added 14 points in the win.
While NYIT struggled to hit shots from the perimeter, going 22-of-56 (39%) from the field, the Bears were more than capable of lighting up the scoreboard from long range. NYIT went 8-for-15 from three-point range, as Williams and Ragab combined for seven three-pointers on the day.
The previous meeting between these two Boulevard rivals was on March 6 of last year in the ECC semifinals at the Pratt Recreation Center. That evening, the Pioneers came away with an 85-66 victory over the Bears, propelling them to the ECC championship game.
Men's Basketball vs. NYIT - 7:30 p.m.The 84th installment of the men's basketball version of the "Battle of the Boulevard" features two programs that are in the same unusual place at this time. Both NYIT and LIU Post are in need of a victory to capitalize on their momentum and stay in the hunt for an ECC postseason berth.
The Pioneers (7-8, 2-5) needed some buzzer-beating magic to knock off Queens on Saturday (Jan. 17) as a jumper from senior forward
Tyuan Williams (Newark, N.J.) propelled the green and gold to the 70-69 victory. Williams had a double-double in the contest, with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard
P.J. Torres (New Rochelle, N.Y.) scored 20 points off the bench and sophomore forward
Greg Dotson (Abington, Pa.) chipped in 14 with five rebounds. Junior point guard
Dillon Burns (Staten Island, N.Y.) continued his impressive play as of late, knocking down a pair of threes on his way to a 14-point afternoon.
LIU Post won the contest despite allowing Queens to shoot 58% from the field (29-50) and in spite of losing the rebounding edge to the Knights (30-27), as well. The Pioneers were protective of the basketball, committing just 11 turnovers while forcing 21 giveaways by Queens.
NYIT (5-10, 2-5 ECC) may have turned a corner in their season after a 93-86 upset victory over Molloy on Saturday (Jan. 17). Senior guard Darian Hooker (Washington, D.C.) was nearly unstoppable in the contest, scoring 34 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the field. Hooker was also a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line, and the Bears hit all 21 of their foul shots in the game. Junior forward Jon Feiler (St. James, N.Y.) pitched in with a 14-point, 12-rebound outing and junior guard Khalif Chaplin (Hempstead, N.Y.) scored 15 points in the contest.
The Bears were dominant on the glass, outrebounding Molloy by a 44-28 margin. In addition, NYIT shot 50% (32-64) from the field and committed just nine turnovers in the victory.