Pat Longobardi, Sports Writer-
Senior guard Lynsey Timbrouck had 21 points, four assists and three steals in 39 minutes as The College of Saint Rose defeated Southern Owl’s women’s basketball, 79-66, on Feb. 19, Senior Day, in a Northeast-10 Conference game at Moore Field House.
Southern honored its two seniors, guard Logan Lentz and center Shelley Pierson, prior to the game.
The game started back and forth, with each team trading shots.
Sylvonya Moore made a lay-up, giving Southern their first lead, 10-8. Southern did not lead the rest of the game.
“Well, we started off slow,” said Pierson. “We fought back, but we just couldn’t make stops.”
Ashley Rath gave Saint Rose the lead, 11-10, making a lay-up, plus a free-throw, with 15:19 remaining.
Ali Johnson then made a lay-up, assisted to Amy Voelkel, giving Saint Rose a 13-10 lead.
Keshia Primo made a jumper making it 13-12, while Jessica Walton made consecutive shots, making it 17-12.
Southern then called timeout with 12 minutes remaining.
Saint Rose went on a 6-0 run, 11-3 overall, after a good possession leading to a three-pointer by Voelkel, assisted to Ola Shajuyigbe, to lead 28-17 with 6:45 remaining.
“After a few minutes, I think we played well,” said Saint Rose head coach Karen Haag. “I think our offense moved the ball very well.”
Saint Rose later went on an 8-0 run towards the end of the half to have their largest lead of the game, 44-27.
Camille Fantini hit a three, just ending the half, making it 44-30 at halftime.
In the second half, Saint Rose kept up their lead with strong defense, forcing turnovers, and making their free-throws down the stretch.
Southern played physical in the game, being over the limit, fouling Saint Rose for most of the game.
Southern had 25 fouls in the game. Saint Rose shot 21-33 from the free-throw line in the game.
Haag said Southern played extremely physical during the game.
“Fortunately, we were able to make our free-throws down the stretch. There is nothing worse than missing free-throws.”
Southern did cut the lead with a 6-0 run, 70-59, with 3:35 remaining.
Saint Rose out-rebounded Southern, 36-34, including 29 defensive rebounds. Saint Rose had 22 turnovers in the game. Southern, had 16.
“Well, we won and that’s always good,” said Timbrouck.
“I think we lost our composure in the second half. We are a team that likes to stay poise and under control.”
Saint Rose defeated Southern, 71-56, on Dec. 4, in Albany, N.Y.
Timbrouck led Saint Rose scorers. Voelkel had nine points, 15 rebounds, and four assists in 39 minutes.
Rath had 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists in 37 minutes, while Shajuyigbe had 16 points, three rebounds, and four assists.
Saint Rose was 19-6, 15-6 in the Northeast-10 Conference. Southern was 11-15, 7-14 in conference.
With their conference tournament hopes still within their grasp, Pierson said Southern needs to stay positive.
“We are going to treat this game like we are on a five game winning streak,” said Pierson.
“We need to have a positive attitude and ruin their senior day the way they (Saint Rose) did to us.”
Pierson led Southern with 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals in 23 minutes.
Primo had 12 points, one block, and two steals in 30 minutes. Fantini had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in 32 minutes.
Lentz had six points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 37 minutes.
Southern’s final regular season game was on Feb. 23 at Assumption.
The Lady Owls lost to Assumption 65-61 in the season finale. They finished the season 11-16 overall and 7-15 in the Northeast 10 Conference.
