#12/17 Women's Basketball Survives St. Elizabeth, 65-53

McEntee (26 Points, 10 Rebounds) Posts Seventh Double-Double in Eight Games

Jessica McEntee hit six free throws in the final 2:14 to keep NYU unbeaten.

All-American Jessica McEntee finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, including six free throws in the final 2:14, as the New York University women's basketball team survived a late charge by the College of St. Elizabeth and emerged with a 65-53 victory Saturday afternoon in the NYU Classic at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

NYU (9-0) is ranked #12 in the USA Today ESPN Division III Coaches' Top 25 Poll and #17 by D3Hoops.com.

In the other NYU Classic first-round game Saturday, SUNY Brockport (4-2) staved off Salisbury University (0-10), 54-51, behind 20 points from Brenlyn Campbell. Brockport will face NYU on Sunday at 3 p.m., while Salisbury will oppose St. Elizabeth at 1 p.m..

In recording her seventh double-double in eight games this season, McEntee went 13-for-14 at the line for the Violets in 27 minutes of action, matching the Eagles' (7-7) output at the charity stripe as the visitors went 13-for-19 (68.4%). NYU went 26-for-33 (78.8%) at the line, including a perfect 8-for-8 while closing the game with a 10-3 run.

St. Elizabeth trailed by as many as 16 in the second half, but a three-point play by Sarah Kozlowsky (16 points, game-high 14 rebounds) and a a pair of free throws by Melinda Levendusky helped the Eagles pull within 55-50 with 2:20 to play.

On NYU's ensuing possession, though, McEntee drew contact and went to the line and calmly canned both her of free-throw attempts to make it 57-50 with 2:14 left. A steal by McEntee and another Eagle foul sent the senior standout to the charity stripe again, where she made both tries to push the Violet advantage to 59-50 with 1:57 remaining.

Overall, McEntee scored 18 of her points in the second half while producing her fifth straight game of 20-plus points.

"You could tell when she caught the ball on certain possession that she acted like an All-American and team captain," NYU interim head coach Stefano Trompeo said. "She basically said, 'I'm not going to let us lose.' "

St. Elizabeth never got closer than eight points the rest of the way, as Gena Brown and McEntee each drained a pair of free throws in the final 14 seconds to create the final margin of victory.

Brown, Grace Carmen and Bianca Storts each tallied eight points for NYU, which outscored St. Elizabeth 30-12 in the paint and owned a 44-36 rebounding edge despite shooting just 35.2% (19-for-54). Emily Foshag grabbed a career-best eight boards, while Megan Fox contributed six points and six caroms

Jessica Dixon had 13 points, four rebounds and three steals for the Eagles, who hit only 32.7% (18-for-55) of their shots.