NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Women's Basketball team (4-1) took two on the road over the weekend, 72-42 over York on Saturday and 77-70 in overtime at Old Westbury on Sunday. The wins move SUNYIT into a tie with Keuka for best overall record in the NEAC at 4-1 (Keuka still leads in conference record at 2-0; the Wildcats have yet to play a conference match).
Junior Lyndsey Brognano (Rome, N.Y. / Rome Free Academy), came to play for the Wildcats, averaging 25.8 ppg in the two contests to lead SUNYIT in both games. Brognano was best when it counted, scoring 42 of her 51 points on the weekend in the second half. In fact, in the two games combined Brognano was just 3 of 14 from the field in the first half, turning the ball over a total of six times. But in the second half and overtime she was lights out, pouring in 23 of her 27 to lead the Wildcat comeback over Old Westbury on Sunday. Brognano tickled the twine for 6 three-pointers in that game, all of them coming in the second half.
In the latter half of SUNYIT's weekend double-dip, Old Westbury led for nearly the first 35 minutes of the game until Brognano nailed a three-pointer to give SUNYIT its first lead with 5:02 remaining. The Panthers relied on standout Deandra Scott to get to that point – she led the team in scoring for the second consecutive game, this time going for 23 points and 16 rebounds.
On the other side, Brognano was helped out by teammates Ashley Schmidt (Camden, N.Y. / Camden) and Sarah Couvillon (Saratoga Springs, N.Y. / Saratoga Springs). Both players lit up the stat sheet: Schmidt was the Wildcats' second leading scorer with 16 points, but she also pulled down 7 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, and recorded 3 blocks for an overall player efficiency rating of 24.* Couvillon was similarly multifaceted, going for 15 points, 6 rebounds, and a whopping 5 blocks coming off the bench (PER=20).
Next up for the Lady Wildcats is a long break for the holidays, after which they'll take their talents down on the bayou for the New Orleans Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29th. SUNYIT is slated to take on the University of Mary Washington at 10:00 am in the first round.
*Player Efficiency Rating (PER) = Points+Rebounds+Assists+Steals+Blocks – (FG's missed+FT's missed+Turnovers)