BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Bridgeport Purple Knights Women’s Basketball Team turned it on the second half to turn a close game into a decisive 79-63 victory Saturday afternoon in Hubbell Gymnasium. Offense was spread around as Janiece Loney led the team with 23 points, Samirah Henderson had 19, Brianna Meekins put up 18 and Stephanie McBride 15. Meekins picked up 12 rebounds for a double double on the day. Henderson downed 6 three pointers and Loney hit five on the way to their point totals as well. Carly Bolivar paced Nyack with 21, followed by Amani Levitan and Raquel Crooke-Losada who each put up 12.

The first quarter was an even affair as each team played to an 8-8 tie and then after a UB scoring drought, the team got back into it and eventually the score was tied at 16-16. This was despite UB picking up several shooting fouls and Nyack not fouling at all. When the second quarter began Nyack went on an 8-3 run to take a 26-19 lead but Bridgeport responded with a 16-4 run to take a 35-30 going into the half.

The third quarter was a largely back and forth frame with Nyack not being able to gain on UB as the teams traded points. Towards the end, the Purple Knights had a flourish of scoring ended by a team foul, but Loney launched a shot near half court as time was expiring and buried it to give UB a 60-48 lead. With a twelve point advantage, UB would put Nyack away in the fourth holding the Warriors to 7 points total while scoring 15 themselves.

In terms of stats, Bridgeport shot 50% from the field, and 38.7% from beyond the arc while Nyack shot 28% and only 21.7% from three point land. Nyack did make 72.7% of their free throws and UB made only 56.3% of theirs. Nyack made 14 pts off turnovers while UB had 8 and the Warriors had 8 second chance points while UB had 7.

Coach Mike West’s UB contingent is now 2-3 on the season. The Nyack team of Coach Rashidi Aikens is now 0-4.