Women's Basketball late run comes up short in a 3 point loss to Hunter

Courtesy of Bridgewater State Sports Information

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Hunter College held off a late surge as the Hawks downed Rivier University, 62-59, in the semifinal round of the 2013 BSU Tip-Off Classic on Friday night at the Tinsley Center.

Hunter (2-2) will advance to the tournament championship game against host Bridgewater State on Saturday at 3:00 PM. Rivier (1-1) will face Johnson State in the consolation game on Saturday at one.

Three players finished in double-figure scoring for Hunter led by senior forward Kristen Markoe who posted a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Markoe also added five assists and three steals. Senior guard Nicole Lenard added 15 points, while junior center Dimitra Thomopoulos chipped in with 13 points, six boards and a pair of assists. The Hawks' starters scored 60 of the team's 62 points.

Junior guard Deanna Purcell paced Rivier with 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Freshman guard Caitlyn Perry came off the bench to score a team-high 12 points, while senior guard Ryan Baker notched a game-high ten assists to go along with seven rebounds (six offensive) and five steals.

In a tightly contested game, Rivier held a 35-34 advantage at the intermission but would not lead again after Thomopoulos moved Hunter back in front in the opening minute of the second half with a pair of free throws.

The Hawks increased their advantage to as much as eight points in the final twenty minutes but could not get their lead into double digits.

Trailing 60-52 with a minute remaining in the contest, back-to-back buckets by Purcell and Erin Sweeney sandwiched a Hunter turnover to make it a four-point game (60-56) with 36 seconds left to play. The Raiders immediately fouled and had a chance to pull to within a basket after the Hawks missed the front end of a one-on-one, but could not convert on the other end. A pair of Kristen Sells' free throws with twenty seconds remaining gave Hunter a six-point cushion (62-56). Baker converted a traditional three-point play with just a second on the clock to round out the scoring.

Hunter shot 37.5% (21-56) from the floor while Rivier connected for 35.4% (23-65) of its field goal attempts. The Hawks held slight 44-40 edge in rebounds with both teams pulling down 15 offensive boards. The two teams also combined for 38 turnovers.