Women's Basketball 2/17/2024 4:01:00 PM

Cougars defeated by Bearcats in CUNYAC semifinals, 65-46; Team finishes with six-win improvement from '22-'23

Box Score The Medgar Evers College women's basketball team finalized its 2023-2024 campaign on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Bearcats of Baruch College in the quarterfinals of the CUNYAC Women's Basketball Tournament by a score of 65-46. The contest took place at the ARC Arena in New York, NY. With the loss, the Cougars closed their campaign at 8-14, while Baruch improved to 16-10 on the season, and will take on No. 2 seeded John Jay College in the semifinals this Tuesday.

Despite the loss for the Cougars, sophomore Sheily Quezada capped her stellar season with team-highs of 14 points and nine blocked shots. With those nine blocks, she finished the season with 108, an average of 4.9 swatted shots per contest. She currently sits atop NCAA Division III in both of the aforementioned categories (total blocks, and swatted shots per contest).

In addition to Quezada's solid play, Mariame Gueye finished her Medgar Evers career by registering a double-double, as she scored 10 points while collecting a team-high 11 rebounds, and sophomore point guard Jennifer Metra scored nine points, pulled down 10 boards, and led all Cougars with seven steals. Finally, it was Andecia Liverpool scoring nine points and snatching four rebounds.

Baruch College was paced by Mia Castillo, as she led all scorers with 31 points, as she connected on 13 of her 26 attempts from the floor in the process. She also added eight rebounds while tying for the game-high of seven steals and five assists. Castillo swatted three shots, as well. Elissa Leung scored 21 points while dishing five assists and swiping four steals, and Madison Thorton-Lewis finalized her afternoon with seven points and seven boards. Finally, it was D'Andre McRae pulling down a game-high 12 boards.

In what was a game that featured a slew of runs, Medgar Evers raced out to an 8-5 advantage in the opening 2:46 behind four points from Liverpool, and two points apiece from Quezada and Metra. The Bearcats then finished the quarter with 15 consecutive points to grab a 20-8 advantage after 10 minutes of action. Castillo highlighted that aforementioned run by netting 12 of the 15 points, including a triple with 37 seconds to go in the session.

Baruch led by as many as 19 (28-9) in the second quarter, but Medgar Evers refused to let the game get out of hand, as the Cougars put together a 15-6 run over a span of 6:57 to slice to within 10 points (34-24) with 43 seconds remaining in the half. Leung hit a clutch basket just before halftime, nailing a trifecta with seven seconds left to cap the scoring for the opening 20 minutes. As the teams headed into the locker room for halftime, the No. 3 seeded Bearcats held a 37-24 advantage.

Medgar Evers spent the opening 5:03 of the third quarter roaring back, starting the period on 13-1 run to cut to within a point (38-37). Gueye scored five points during the run, capping it with a long three-point basket. Quezada and Metra contributed four points apiece during that run, as well. Baruch then snatched the momentum back, closing the quarter by rattling off 11 consecutive points to take a commanding 49-37 edge into the fourth. Castillo netted five points during that span.

The Bearcats carried the momentum they gained at the end of the third quarter in the fourth, starting the final period by scoring 10 consecutive points, and extending their run to 21 consecutive points. At that juncture of the contest, Baruch led 59-37. Medgar Evers put forth one final run, scoring seven straight points to pull to within 15 with 2:09 left, but that would be the closest the Cougars would get, as the Bearcats won the game by 19 (65-46).

Neither team was very efficient shooting the basketball this afternoon, with Baruch College earning just a 31.2 percent conversion rate (24-77), and Medgar Evers hitting on just 30 percent of its attempts (18-60). The Cougars won the battle on the boards, snatching 53 rebounds to the Bearcats' 48, but Baruch held a 15-8 edge in assists. Medgar Evers swatted nine shots (all Quezada's) to Baruch's five, but the opportunistic Bearcats racked-up 24 steals to the Cougars' 17. Finally, it was Baruch winning the turnover battle by a wide margin, committing 23 miscues, while Medgar Evers finished the afternoon with 37.

Despite falling short, Medgar Evers certainly accomplished plenty this season. First and foremost, the team continued to build towards becoming a legitimate CUNYAC playoff contender on an annual basis, increasing their win total from a season ago by six games. Sheily Quezada continued to take the CUNY Athletic Conference, and NCAA Division III by storm in multiple categories. Veteran Jennifer Metra continued to improve, and first-year players Aaliyah Lyons and Andecia Liverpool acclimated well to head Coach Rodney Carr's system. The team also is awaiting word of potential CUNYAC postseason honors, which should be announced by the conference next week.

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