Wildcats Second Half Rally Squelches Nighthawks

HOLYOKE, Mass.-  Bay Path College downs New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) foe Newbury College 54-35 tonight at the Bartley Center.  Senior guard Justine Hook (Berwick, Penn.) led all players with 11 points including nailing 3-for-4 from downtown. The Wildcats managed to keep the Nighthawks to less than 20 points each half.  Bay Path's second half offensive push of 41 points despite being down 16-13 in the first half was the game changer.

Freshman guard Aaliyah Gordon (Springfield, Mass.) was the only player to notch a double double finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tonight also saw the return of junior guard Toni Alexander (Enfield, Conn.) for the Wildcats. Alexander had eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Senior forward Kayla Skiffington (East Longmeadow, Mass.) also chipped in eight points along with 10 rebounds.

The Nighthawks were led by sophomore guard Katelyn Roeser (Nashua, N.H.) with nine points. Senior forward Katie Haney (Winchendon, Mass.) led all players on the board with a game high 15 rebounds. Sophomore guard Alex Pezzella (Rockland, Mass.) added eight points and three steals.

The Wildcats started off stale unable to get their groove holding the lead the first 15 minutes including a  five point lead at 7:39 on the clock when Hook hits her first Trey. The Nighthawks start a late surge in the final three minutes of the first half on two freshman guard Janetis Cardona (Southbridge, Mass.) jumpers and a Roeser bucket. Newbury grabs the lead at 3:09 and Pezzella hits two final free throws to finish the scoring before half time with the Nighthawks ahead 16-13 at the half.

Hook and Skiffington came out strong hitting three shots including Hook's second three-pointer. Newbury's senior forward Claudia LeConte (Framingham, Mass.)  came off the bench knotting the score at 23-23 with 10:39 left on the clock.

The trio of Gordon, Alexander and Skiffington began the Wildcats surge scoring the next 13 points sending them to jump ahead by 12 points and never looking back. Freshman guard Brenna Roy (Stafford Springs, Conn.) and Hook would the nail two more treys in the next two minutes along with a two point trip to the line by Alexander and a stellar offense rebound and put-back by junior guard Katherine Chabot (Brookfield, Mass.).

Freshman forward Briana Kujawski (Webster, Mass.) finished with seven points and eleven rebounds.

Bay Path is now 4-10 on the season and 3-4 in the NECC, while Newbury is 2-10 overall and 2-5 in conference play.