Philadelphia, Pa. – Jordan Vitelli scored a game-best 27 points to lead the 23rd-ranked University of the Sciences to a 73-67 come-from-behind victory over the Le Moyne College women's basketball team on the second day of the USciences Conference Challenge on Saturday afternoon at Bobby Morgan Arena.
Senior forward
Nicole Riddick (Albany, N.Y./Colonie/UMass Lowell) led the Dolphins in the defeat with her second straight double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, with 18 of her points coming in the first half and six of her rebounds coming after halftime. Sophomore forward
Colleen Corcoran (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) recorded a career-high 15 points in 29 minutes off the bench. Sophomore guard
McKayla Roberts (North Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) tallied eight of her 12 points in the opening half.
Vitelli registered 17 of her points in the second half on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range and a 5-for-5 performance at the foul line. Alex Thomas tallied 10 of her 19 points in the first half, while finishing the contest with a team-high five rebounds. Colleen Walsh netted all 12 of her points in the first half, while posting three rebounds and three assists. Sarah Abbonizio was the fourth Devil in double digits with 11 points.
After Riddick and Roberts hit three-pointers around a three-pointer by Thomas to give the Dolphins the lead, they maintained the lead for the remainder of the first quarter. Following a Walsh three-pointer with 3:37 left, Riddick buried a three-pointer and senior forward
Courtney Webster (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) made a lay-up for a 23-15 advantage with 2:27 remaining in the quarter.
Walsh and Vitelli hit three-pointers over the final 2:14 to get the Devils within 23-21 at the end of the quarter.
The Devils scored the first six points of the second quarter to extend their run to 10-0 and take a 27-23 lead with 8:07 left in the half.
Following two Thomas free throws to put the Devils up 32-27 with 5:43 left, Le Moyne scored six straight points and 14 of the next 18 to take a five-point lead of its own. Corcoran and Riddick each had six points in the span.
Vitelli made a three-pointer with 33 seconds left in the half, but Corcoran scored at the buzzer to give Le Moyne a 43-39 lead at halftime.
After the score was tied at 45, 49 and 51, the Dolphins scored six straight points (by three different players) to regain the lead. Vitelli made two free throws with 22 seconds left to get the Devils within 57-53, but Corcoran made a foul shot with six seconds left for a 58-53 lead after 30 minutes.
Corcoran opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a lay-up for a 60-53 lead, the Devils rattled off 10 straight points to take the lead. Vitelli bookended the run with three-pointers around two points each from Abbonizio and Thomas.
Roberts made a lay-up to end the streak, but Thomas made two foul shots and Vitelli drained a three-pointer to push the lead for USciences to six at 68-62.
The Dolphins got a three-pointer with 3:33 left to get within three, but Thomas made a three-pointer with 52 seconds left and Abbonizio connected on two free throws with 21 seconds left to put the game away.
Le Moyne (1-1) opens Northeast-10 Conference play and its home schedule on Wednesday against American International College at 5:30 p.m.
