Albany, NY – The Sage College's women's basketball team hosted the College of Mt. St. Vincent on Friday night in the Kahl Gym in a Skyline Conference contest on Saturday afternoon. Sage picked up a thrilling 68-66 win as junior guard Megan Bowman (Dannemora, NY/Saranac) picked up a layup with 9.2 second left to help Sage to the 68-66 win and the program's record 14th win of the season, the most of any Sage women's basketball program. Sage improves to 14-9 overall and 9-4 in the Skyline, while the College of Mt. St. Vincent drops to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in the league.
Sage's senior Chelsea Martin (Davenport, NY/Jefferson Central) was honored prior to the game in conjunction with Senior Night. A four-year letterwinner and starter in basketball at Sage, Chelsea Martin has excelled as a student-athlete at Sage. She has also played soccer and lacrosse for the Gators, but has concentrated solely on basketball the past two seasons. Just last week, she penned her name to the Sage career games played mark having surpassed the old standard of 91 when she made her 92nd consecutive start in the Gators' win over SUNY-Old Westbury. She has watched that mark grow to 95 with tonight's appearance in the starting lineup.
Sage led 41-33 at the break as junior Lea McClain (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) added 12 points and was 6-8 from the line. McClain was held to just one point in the second half, but finished with 13 points for the Gators.
CMSV led by eight points twice in the second half. The first time at 12:21, 52-44 and again at 3:13, 65-57. Sage chipped away at the Dolphins' lead as junior center Amie Jefferson (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) came up big down the stretch. She added a pair of layups in the final three plus minutes, while sophomore Sara Tironi (Cambridge, NY/Cambridge Central) added a jumper and two free throws to pull Sage within one point, down 66-65 with 1:26 left to play. McClain's lone point of the second half came at 0:34 as she hit the second of two free throw attempts and tied the action. CMSV's junior center Kelly Fraser (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) missed a layup and rookie Frankie Pearson (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) hauled in the rebound and dished it off the Bowman who made the layup on the right side with just 9.2 seconds left to play and last second attempt by sophomore guard Theresa Carey (Hampton Bays, NY/Hampton Bays) was off the mark to end the Dolphins' shot at tying the game.
For the game, Jefferson finished with a double-double as she had 16 points and a team-high 15 rebounds. Bowman collected 14 points and had five rebounds. Tironi added nine points with eight rebounds for the Gators as they held a 53-36 edge on the boards.
CMSV's senior guard Tanisha Montague (Brooklyn, NY/Abraham Lincoln) tallied 14 points and was 6-6 from the floor with a 1-1 effort from three point range. Rookie guard Christina Barone (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) added 10 points with 10 assists and five steals. Fraser finished with 12 points and three blocked shots, while Carey added 10 points.
Sage returns to action on February 23 travelling to NYU-Poly for a 2 p.m. Skyline Conference contest, the final one of the regular-season. The College of Mt. St. Vincent travels to Farmingdale State for a 1p.m. Skyline Conference game. Both Sage and CMSV have clinched a berth in the upcoming Skyline Conference Tournament, while the final pairings will be announced following Sunday's regular-season finale.