#4 Farmingdale State - 40, #2 Purchase - 39
Purchase, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State women's basketball team defeated Purchase College, 40-39, this afternoon in the Skyline Conference Championship. With the win, the Rams (12-12) earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.
In the first, Farmingdale jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead before Purchase (17-10) got on the board at the 15:22 mark with a layup to make it 6-2. A Rams free throw made it 7-2, before the Panthers tied the game at 7-7 with 11:05 left to play in the half. Both teams traded baskets until the 1:36 mark, when Purchase grabbed the lead 19-15 and would lead 23-19 at the break.
The Panthers held the four point lead most of the second, before a 4-0 Farmingdale run tied the game at 29-29 with 11:48 remaining. The Rams took back the lead, 31-29, on a Siohban Purvis (Amityville, N.Y.) layup at 7:43, but Purchase used an 8-0 run over the next three minutes for a 37-31 advantage.
Christina Merrill (Levittown, N.Y.) knocked down a three-point shot to stop the Panthers run and Nikita Green (Roosevelt, N.Y.) cut the deficit to one, 37-36, with a layup at 2:25. Purvis gave the Rams another lead with a layup at 1:56, 38-37, but the Panthers scored on their next possession to open up a 39-38 advantage with 1:33 to play.
Farmingdale State junior guard Nicky Young (Queens, N.Y.) was fouled with 9.7 seconds remaining on the clock. Young connected on the pair to give the Rams a 40-39 lead. Purchase missed a jump shot with two seconds left on the clock and Farmingdale State held on for the one point victory.
Purvis, who was named the Most Valuable Player, recorded a double-double with game-high's of 13 points and 13 rebounds. Young added 10 points and nine boards, while Merrill and Green each scored seven points for the Rams.
The Panthers were led by Jess Lindsay who had a team-leading 10 points and eight rebounds.
Farmingdale State will now await word of their next opponent, which will be announced on Monday, February 25th at 2:30 p.m. on ncaasports.com.
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