The No. 1 seeded Berkeley College women's basketball team fell in the championship game of the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament today, falling to the No. 2 seeded Panthers of the Albany College of Pharmacy by a score of 56-54. The game took place at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, NY. With the defeat, the Knights wrapped up their season at 8-8. On the flip side, the Panthers earned an automatic bid to the USCAA Division II National Women's Basketball Tournament.
In what was the fourth and final HVIAC postseason meeting between the two teams (Albany will move to the Yankee Small College Conference for the 2020-2021 season), the game lived us to its hype, featuring everything a championship game should. The Panthers solidified their fifth HVIAC crown with the triumph, and finished an unblemished 4-0 against the Knights while they were in the conference.
Albany College of Pharmacy will learn of its seed and first opponent in the upcoming USCAA Division II National Women's Basketball Tournament on bid day, which this year takes place on Friday, February 28.
Despite the loss for Berkeley College, Kaina Martinez turned in a hearty performance, netting a team-high 20 points while grabbing 11 rebounds, registering three dimes, and tallying two steals. Jennifer Lightner netted 12 points and tied for the game-high of four assists. She also snatched two boards, as well. Daniella Wood posted a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds, and veteran Ebony Lofton dropped-in seven points while grabbing 13 caroms.
In the victory for Albany College of Pharmacy, the Panthers were led by Clare Snell, as she connected on 13 of her 27 attempts from the floor on her way to finalizing her afternoon with a game-high 32 points. Following the victory, she was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. She also grabbed seven rebounds and tallied two steals as well. Olivia Parmeter contributed 11 points while grabbing six boards and compiling four dimes, and Emma Webster added 10 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Berkeley raced out to an early 6-0 advantage in the opening 2:14 of action, a spurt capped by a converted three-point basket by Martinez. Over the ensuing 2:24, Albany used a 6-0 run of its own to knot the game at six apiece. That run featured jumpers by Webster and Snell, and a pair of converted freebees by Snell. Later in the quarter, with the Knights ahead by a score of 12-9, Webster connected on a trifecta to knot the contest at 12. Berkeley would finish the quarter strong, though, as Wood would hit a three with 18 seconds left in the period. After 10 minutes of action, the Knights led 15-12.
In the second quarter, the Knights grabbed their six point lead back, going ahead by a score of 24-18 with 4:57 remaining in the half. Just when it appeared Berkeley would start to put some distance between itself and Albany, the Panthers would put together a ferocious 9-0 run to jump ahead by a count of 27-24 with 2:23 left on the opening half's clock. Wood would halt the run with 1:06 left in the stanza, converting on a jumper to pull Berkeley to within one at 27-26. That would be the score as the opening half would come to a close.
Albany College of Pharmacy would score eight of the first 12 points of the third quarter to grab a 35-30 advantage with 6:17 remaining in the period. Berkeley would respond with a 7-0 run that featured a converted layup by Lofton, a made jumper by Martinez, and a drained triple by Lightner. The Knights led 37-35 with 4:30 to go in the third, and 53 seconds later, Parmeter would tie the game at 37 by nailing a jumper. Just as Albany started the quarter strongly, it capped the period in impressive fashion as well, scoring four consecutive points after falling behind 39-37 to go ahead 41-39 after 30 minutes of play.
Snell would score the opening five points of the fourth quarter, as Albany opened up a semi-commanding 46-39 advantage with 8:55 to play. The Knights showed tremendous heart in staying in the game, though, going on a 7-0 run over a span of 2:54 to tie the game at 46. That run was capped by a drained three-point basket by Brittanny Mitchell. With 6:01 remaining, the game was up for grabs.
39 seconds later, Snell would give the Panthers the lead back by once again hitting a jumper, as Albany went up 48-46 with 5:22 to go. Later, the Panthers led 50-46, but a 5-0 Knights run over a span of 1:12 put Berkeley ahead 51-50 with 3:01 left. After 81 seconds of scoreless basketball, Hope Walker would collect a rebound off of a missed shot by Emily D'Abrosca before laying the ball in, giving the Panthers a 52-51 edge. Jumpers by Snell with 1:08 and 0:25 remaining gave the Panthers a 56-51 edge, but a converted three-point basket by Martinez pulled the Knights to within two (56-54) with 18 seconds left.
Unfortunately for Berkeley, the Knights had only committed one foul in the fourth quarter up to that point. For Berkeley, committing the four necessary fouls to send Albany to the line drained 15 seconds off of the clock, bringing it down to three seconds. Snell would go to the line to the Panthers to shoot two free throws, and she would misfire on both. Lightner would grab the rebound, but while motoring down the sideline, she stepped out of bounds with 1.1 seconds left.
On Albany's ensuing inbounds pass, Ebony Lofton stole the ball, but time expired, as the Panthers held on for the dramatic two point win.
Neither team shot the ball well, with Albany College of Pharmacy converting of just 36.1 percent of its shots from the floor (22-61), and the Knights hitting 21 of their 74 shots (28.4 percent). Berkeley held a healthy 54-45 edge in the rebounding department, while also tallying 11 assists to nine for the Panthers. Albany misfired on eight free throws (9-17, 52.9 percent) while Berkeley connected on half of its freebees (6-12, 50 percent). Both teams committed 19 turnovers, and Berkeley's bench outscored Albany's bench, 12-0.
For Berkeley, despite the season finalizing in less than ideal fashion, the team took major steps forward during this 2019-2020 campaign, qualifying for its first HVIAC title contest in its history after capturing the conference's regular season championship (4-0 HVIAC). Three players (Jennifer Lightner, Ebony Lofton, and Daniella Wood) were named All-Conference players, and the team earned its best winning percentage (.500) since the 2014-2015 season.
