NYACK, N.Y. - Despite leading for most of the game, the Caldwell College women's basketball team lost to Nyack College, 71-66 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest Saturday afternoon at Bowman Gymnasium. The loss ends a three-game winning streak for the Cougars and drops them to 14-8 overall, including an 8-6 mark in the conference. The Warriors, who upset CACC North Division-leading Dominican College on Tuesday, are now 8-12, 5-7 CACC.
Caldwell quickly took control with a 14-3 run to open the game, including six points from senior guard Khaliqa Davis (Newark, NJ/Bloomfield Tech), pictured, and four from freshman guard Stephanie Cadet (Elmont, NY/Elmont Memorial). Nyack answered with a 12-4 run of its own over the next three minutes to cut the Cougars' lead to 18-15 with 8:23 left in the half. But Caldwell regained the upper hand, allowing Nyack to score just five points over the remainder of the half while scoring 19 for a 37-23 advantage at the break. Senior guard Dana Leary (Bridgewater, NJ/Immaculata) and Davis each scored eight points as the Cougars shot 46.7 percent from the field in the half compared to 31.3 percent for Nyack.
Caldwell maintained its momentum from the second half, building the lead to 20 points, 49-29 with 13:35 left in the game. At that point, the Cougars began to struggle offensively, making just one of their next 11 field goal attempts as the Warriors reeled off an 18-2 run to get back in the game. Christy Porter hit three three-pointers and Kelsy McIntosh made one during the run, which made the score 51-47 Caldwell with just under seven minutes to play.
The Cougars tried to swing momentum back to their side with baskets by Davis and freshman guard Kirsty Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Acad.) for a 55-47 advantage with 5:47 on the clock. But another three from Porter capped an 11-2 spree that gave the Warriors their first lead of the game, 58-57 with 3:43 remaining. The teams exchanged baskets and the lead until a pair of free throws by Tamyra Lathon put Nyack ahead, 62-61 with two minutes to play. Caldwell missed its next seven shots from the floor as Nyack completed the comeback by scoring the next seven points for a 69-61 advantage.
Davis finished with a team-best 20 points to go with six steals for the Cougars, while Leary and senior guard Phylicia Holmes (Roselle, NJ/Roselle) tallied eight points and 10 rebounds apiece. Leedham and junior forward Mackenzie Lynch (Wayne, NJ/DePaul Catholic) each scored nine points in the loss. Porter made 5-of-5 from three-point range in the second half to finish with a game-high 21 points. Lathon was 11-of-11 from the line en route to 18 points for Nyack.
Next up for Caldwell is a non-conference game at Dowling College on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Game time is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. in Oakdale, N.Y.
