Lady Knights Upended by UCAP 92-87

12.18.18

Warwick, R.I. – December 18, 2018: The CCRI Lady Knights hosted the Pointers of UConn-Avery Point for a game at the Cullen Fieldhouse Monday evening. The Lady Knight lost to the Pointers 92-87. With the loss CCRI falls to 4-9 overall and 2-2 in Region XXI play.

In what has become a great regional rivalry between the Pointers of UConn-Avery Point and CCRI this game had plenty of scoring and excitement to excite any basketball fan. The first quarter started with both teams trying to impose their will on one and other. UCAP started with their top scorer Mia Brennan who averages 29.1 points per game as she scored 11 in the first to set the pace for the Pointers. The Lady Knights answered with Co-Captain Kat Raposo (Warwick, RI) who did her best to keep pace with her by scoring nine points in the first. UCAP took a slim 20-19 lead into the first quarter break.

In the second quarter the Lady Knights did a much better job of containing Brennan as she only managed seven points in that quarter. However, the CCRI offense stagnated a bit as they were only able to put 15 points on the board and Brennan got help from five other teammates which helped UCAP extend their lead to seven points with the score 41-34 at the half. The Lady Knights were battling a tough team and also serious foul trouble with three starts with three fouls apiece.

In the third quarter, though the Lady Knights were trying to contain Mia Brennan that is easier said than done as she erupted for 16 points in the quarter which included two 3-pointers and 4-5 shooting from the free throw line. The Lady Knights still kept the game as close as they could with the tandem of Co-Captain Tatyana Correia (Cranston, RI) and Jada Littlejohn (Providence, RI) who scored six points apiece in the third. By the end of three quarters CCRI trailed 65-57 and had two players with four fouls and two players with three fouls while Brennan had already scored 34 points.

In the fourth quarter, with their backs against the wall, the Lady Knights played one of their best quarters of the year. First they withstood an early run from UCAP which put them up by 12 points 62-74. The Lady Knights began to claw their way back into the game led by Co-Captain Jada Littlejohn who scored 11 points in the quarter, CCRI cut the lead to one point 79-78 with just 3:13 left to play. The Lady Knights got 3-pointers from Olivia Batastini-Pallister (Providence, RI) and Courtney Dorr (East Providence, RI) sandwiched around foul shots from Brennan to take a four points lead, their biggest of the game with 2:31 remaining. With just 56.2 seconds left CCRI led by three points 87-84. But three Lady Knights had fouled out of the game and UCAP closed the game with an 8-0 run including 6-6 free throws by Brennan giving her a career-high 49 points as the Pointers went on to win 92-87.

The Lady Knights had some great stats of their own as they battled the effort of Brennan with three players charting double-doubles. Leading the charges was Jada Littlejohn with a team-high 24 points and team-high 14 rebounds while adding six assist four steals and a blocked shot followed by Kat Raposo who scored 19 points with 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Also charting the first double-double of her career was Tatyana Correia with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Also helping CCRI in this high scoring affair was Olivia Batastini-Pallister with 13 points including two 3-pointers with five assists and a steal and Courtney Dorr added nine points.

The next game for the Lady Knights will be Saturday January 5th when they will host the Seawolves of Southern Maine community College at 1pm at the Cullen Fieldhouse in Warwick, RI.

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The Community College of Rhode Island, New England's largest comprehensive community college, enrolls nearly 15,000 students in credit courses and thousands more in non-credit and job training classes. Its athletic program boasts 12 varsity programs and an academic support program for all student-athletes.