Mariner Women Net Another Victory
KINGS POINT, N.Y. - Senior co-captain Morgan Gartner and freshman Rebecca Grimes each recorded a double-double to help lead the United States Merchant Marine Academy women's basketball team to a decisive 72-40 victory over City Tech on Wednesday night. The Mariners avenged last year's overtime loss to the Yellow Jackets and are off to their best start in program history through seven games.
USMMA improved to 6-1 overall, 0-1 in Landmark Conference action. City Tech dropped to 2-7 overall, 0-2 in CUNYAC play.
"We started off a little sluggish in the first half, and then we picked up our defensive intensity in the last four minutes," said Head Coach Mike Murray. "I thought we did a much better job in the second half with our defensive intensity."
Kristen Hetsko poured in 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting overall and 3-of-5 shooting from behind the arc to lead all scorers in the game. Gartner finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting , 10 rebounds and five steals. Grimes posted the first double-double of her career after ending the match with 12 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Kiersten Healy set a career high with five steals while Nicole Barrigascored her first career points.
City Tech was led by senior Amanda Zieminski's 16 points and eight steals. Sophomore Tempestt Casey finished with a double-double (14 points and 12 rebounds) while junior Kemi Owoseni ended the contest with 10 points.
The teams traded points through the openining half of the first stanza. Leading 13-10 at the midway mark, the Mariners went on their first big run by scoring 11 unanswered points. Grimes, Kaitlin Mulgrew, Hannah Eko and Hetsko all scored during the stretch to give the Mariners a 14 point advantage with just under eight minutes left in the half.
City Tech closed the gap to five points, but the Mariners responded with another big run by ending the half on a 12-1 run. Gartner had six of her 10 points in the half during the stretch and USMMA led by a score of 36-18 at recess.
"I thought (the game) started out pretty messy," said Gartner. "We weren't communicating very well. However, we ended the first half strong and came out even stronger in the second half."
The Mariners indeed came out stronger to begin the second half and scored the first five points to take a 41-18 advantage. Hetsko hit a three-point field goal on the team's first possession and Gartner followed up with a layup. Brooke Picillo recorded two of her seven assists on the plays.
City Tech converted some more free throws and would finally end a drought of not hitting a field goal for eight minutes when Owoseni hit a jump shot to make it 43-24. USMMA kept its commanding lead the rest of the game and extended it to as much as 35 points at 70-35 when Karen Taylor converted two free throws and added a layup a minute later.
Barriga closed out the scoring with her first career bucket with under 20 seconds left in the game. Erin Holihan rebounded the ball on the defensive end and passed the rock up to Meghan Dillard. The forward found a wide open Barriga on the left side who drove all the way in for the layup to give the Mariners a 72-40 lead they would hold until the final buzzer sounded.
"It was a good win," added Murray. "It was our last game before the break and it's always nice to be 6-1. We've never been 6-1 before. We've got some tough competition coming up against Rutgers-Newark and Army, so hopefully we'll stay in shape and come back ready to play."
The women's basketball team will look to continue its best start ever when it travels to face Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday, Jan. 2, for a 1 p.m. contest. Afterwards, the team will face Army three days later.
"Rutgers-Newark is who we are getting ready for, but the big game of course is going to Army," added Gartner. "By the time it gets there, we should be ready to play. Everybody just needs to keep working hard."
The game at West Point on Jan. 5 is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m.