Basketball Edged by Union in Tourney Final, 76-73

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Tournament MVP Kelsey McDonald (Cornwall, N.Y.) had team-highs of 21 points and nine rebounds to lead the Union College women's basketball team to a 76-73 overtime win over the Univ. of St. Joseph in the championship game of the 16^th Annual USJ Blue Jay Tip-Off tournament at the O'Connell Center.

Union improved to 2-0 while St. Joseph dropped to 1-1.

USJ led 59-48 with 4:54 to play in regulation, but the Dutchwomen constantly chipped away at their deficit during the final stages. The Blue Jays led 68-66 in the final seconds of regulation and forced a missed three-pointer with 17 seconds left. But Union's Natalie Leone (Ashland, Mass.), got an offensive rebound and later hit the tying shot from 18 feet with 2.4 seconds remaining.

USJ never led in overtime as Union's Amy Loya (Bethel, Conn.) had a layup 25 seconds into overtime and another with 3:32 to play that broke a 70-all tie and gave the Dutchwomen the lead for good. A last-second three-pointer for USJ came up short.

Devon Diliberto (Waterbury, Conn.) scored a game-high 27 points for St. Joseph and was named to the All-Tournament team. She also had six rebounds and made four three-pointers.

Heather Framski (Prospect, Conn.) had 20 points and six rebounds for the Blue Jays and Mary Hyde (Derby, Conn.) had 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Loya scored 15 points for Union and was also named to the All-Tournament team as was Jannel Paul (Brooklyn, N.Y.) of Morrisville State and Jazmin Garcia (Peekskill, N.Y.) of Purchase.

Union had 76 field goal attempts to just 49 for USJ as the Dutchwomen outrebounded the Blue Jays, 56-35. Union scored 29 second-chance points on 30 offensive rebounds.

"The effort today was tremendous," USJ coach Jack Casey said. "We're a little shot-handed [nine-player roster] and in an overtime game, some players are going to play a lot of minutes and it took its toll. We still battled and had a chance to tie at the end. Union made some key hustle plays down the stretch, extended some possessions and deserved to win."

Morrisville State 56, Purchase 54: Jordan Anderson (West Edmeston, N.Y.) scored 18 points, Queen Holquin (Bronx, N.Y.) 15 and Jannel Paul had 12 points and nine rebounds as Morrisville State (1-1) defeated Purchase (0-2) in the consolation game.

Morrisville State, which one just one game all of last season, led for the final nine minutes, but had to survive a potential game-winning three-pointer by Purchase in the final second. The Mustangs forced Purchase into 30 turnovers and turned them into 29 points.

Garcia scored 17 points for Purchase and Lineker St. Hilaire (Wyandanch, N.Y.) had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers, who led 35-26 at halftime.