CALDWELL, N.J. – The Caldwell University women's basketball team used hot shooting and tough defense to defeat Concordia College, 82-42 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game Tuesday night in the George R. Newman Center. The victory is the Cougars' fifth in a row and gives them a 16-10 record on the season, including a 13-4 mark in the conference. The Clippers drop to 4-20, 4-13 CACC.
In the first half Caldwell took control early, opening the game with a 15-4 run buoyed by six points from junior forward
Lisa Rovatsos (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne). A 14-2 spree midway through the period pushed the Cougars' lead to 35-16 with 5:37 left in the half. Concordia answered with a 10-4 run of their own to make the halftime score 39-26 Caldwell. The Cougars shot 59.3 percent from the field compared to 38.7 percent for the Clippers in the half.
The defense tightened up even more in the second half, as Caldwell limited Concordia to just seven field goals on 30.4 percent shooting after halftime. Three-pointers by freshman guard
Kristen Drogsler (Middle Village, NY/Christ the King), sophomore guard
Antoinette Pilla (Scarsdale, NY/Ardsley) and senior guard
Jessica Coscia (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) helped the Cougars reel off a 23-6 run to start the half and build an insurmountable 62-32 advantage with 10:21 on the clock. The Clippers never came closer than 28 points the rest of the way, as Caldwell avenged a 66-55 loss to Concordia earlier in the season.
For the game, the Cougars shot a season-high 53.4 percent from the field while forcing 21 Clipper turnovers. Senior forward
Emily Caswell (Wakefield, RI/Prout School) led the way with 16 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, with Rovatsos finishing with 12 points. Drogsler tallied 11 points, Pilla scored 10 points and freshman guard
Sharell Sanders (Dorchester, MA/St. Mary's) added nine points, three assists and four steals. Coscia tallied eight of Caldwell's 24 assists on the night. For Concordia, Jessica Rosalbo scored a team-best 11 points.
Caldwell plays a CACC road game at Wilmington University on Saturday, Feb. 21, beginning at 1:00 p.m. in New Castle, Del.
