Posted: Mar 07, 2014
Lloyd, a senior, put forth her best collegiate basketball effort so far by posting a game and career-high 18 points to lead Plattsburgh State past the Hawks and into the second round of the national tournament via a 67-56 score on Friday night in Morrell Gymnasium on the campus of Bowdoin College.
The Wingdale, N.Y., product was just one important piece to the Cardinals' winning equation as reigning SUNYAC Player of the Year and fellow senior Kathleen Payne registered 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Devona Paul also finished the night with a double-digit point total by amassing 14 on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.
Plattsburgh keeps its storybook season rolling, improving to 23-5 with the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. Roger Williams closes out their finest season in program history with a 22-7 record.
All told, the Cardinals put forth a solid field goal performance by hitting 25 of their 55 attempts (45.5 percent) including 54.5-percent (6-of-11) of their tries from beyond the three-point arc.
Both of the teams involved in this first-round tournament battle were making their NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament debuts, and it was Roger Williams who came out on a high note. Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year Kaitlyn Bovee put the first points of the evening on the board by way of a three-point basket just 18 seconds into the tilt.
Bovee's long-range hit began a 5-0 spurt for the Hawks to begin the confrontation, forcing the Cardinals to play catch-up. A 5-0 surge by Plattsburgh State beginning with a long ball from Payne produced the first of three deadlocks in the early minutes of neutral-court action.
Trailing 9-7, Lloyd finished off a 6-0 Plattsburgh State run with a pair of layups to help the Cardinals take the lead for the remainder of the first stanza. Another Plattsburgh State trifecta, this one from the hand of sophomore Stephanie Linder, allowed the Cardinals' edge to grow to 16-11 with 11:15 to go in the first stanza, before the Hawks knotted matters for the final time with a 5-0 scoring blitz of their own.
Three-balls from Payne and her senior classmate Brooke Reifinger bookended a 10-3 Plattsburgh State run to make the score 26-19 Cardinals with 6:58 to go in the first frame. The largest lead of the initial 20-minute stretch came when Reifinger put the finishing touches on a 6-0 run with a make at the free throw line.
Armed with a 32-24 lead with 2:38 to go in the frame, the Cardinals were able to coast into the locker room with a 34-30 edge at the half.
With the Hawks shooting just 32.8-percent (19-of-58) from the field for the game, one of the main reasons why they were still well within striking distance were 20 Plattsburgh State turnovers which translated to 21 Roger Williams points.
Making use of a 7-0 run, the Hawks stormed back to tie things up at 41 with 14:02 remaining in the game.
Roger Williams remained firmly planted in the driver's seat as free throw hits from Angelica Ariola left Plattsburgh State at a 53-51 disadvantage as 4:54 showed on the game clock.
From that point on, Lloyd simply took control of the game, netting eight of her 18 during a 4:21 stretch which all but sent the Cardinals into the round of 32.
Junior Brittany Marshall followed up her SUNYAC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament MVP performance by passing out a game-high seven assists while Linder finished with nine markers and two of the Cardinals' five blocked shots.
Bovee (16) finished as the high-point performer for the Hawks. Ariola (12), Ari Renwick (11) and Amanda Keane (10) rounded out the primary Roger Williams scoring threats.
The next test for the Cardinals will come in the form of Castleton State, who upset host institution Bowdoin College 64-62 in the second first-round game on Friday night. Plattsburgh State will take on the Spartans (26-3) at 7 p.m. on Saturday night with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen at stake.
