Old Westbury, N.Y. (Dec. 12, 2007) – Senior Emily Bolling (Palmer, Alaska) led five players in double figures with a team-high 19 points as the NYIT Bears defeated Mercy College 80-77 this evening in East Coast Conference women’s basketball action. The win improves the Bears to 3-4 on the season, 1-3 in the league, while Mercy falls to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in the conference.

The first six minutes of the first half would see five ties and two lead changes until Mercy turned an 11-9 deficit at the 14:10 mark into a 25-13 lead with a 16-2 run over the next five minutes. Christina Baxter and Jazmine Steele each scored six points during the run for Mercy. NYIT continued to chip away at the deficit and pulled two within six, 35-29, on senior Brittany Smith’s (Hempstead, N.Y.) lay-up with just over a minute remaining, but Baxter, who netted 12 first half points, scored Mercy’s final four points to help the Mavericks head into the half ahead 39-31.

The Bears opened the second stanza by scoring 12 unanswered points over the first 3:05 and by the time juts over five minutes had elapsed, the Bears had put together a 19-4 run to build their largest lead of the game, 52-43. Sophomore Madison Robertson (Shirley, N.Y.) connected on two three pointers and scored eight points during the Bears run.

Mercy slowly chipped away at the Bears lead over the next six minutes and after NYIT junior Brittany Almonte’s (Syracuse, N.Y.) three pointer gave the Bears a 65-58 lead, the Mavericks responded with 10-0 run to regain the lead, 68-67 with 5:49 left in the game. NYIT and Mercy traded baskets on the next three possessions, but Smith’s lay-up with 3:34 gave NYIT a 73-72 lead and put the Bears ahead for good. After a Mercy miss, Robertson buried a three pointer to extend the Bears lead to 76-72. Two free throws from Mercy’s Delmara Reece with just over a minute remaining brought the Mavericks to within tow, but freshman Sarah Vivonetto (, N.Y.) converted four straight free throws, two of them with just a one point lead in the final seconds, to preserve the victory.

Robertson finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, freshman Lauren Caggiano (Holtsville, N.Y.) recorded the third double-double of her career, scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds. Almonte drained four three pointers and finished with 13 points and Smith added 11 points, five assists and three steals in the win.

Steele, scored a game-high 20 points to lead four Mavericks in double figures and Delmara Reece scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds in the loss.