It was day two of the 58 Main BBQ & Brew Tip-Off Classic as the Brockport Women’s Basketball team hosted the Ithaca Bombers. After defeating the William Smith Herons the night prior, the Golden Eagles went undefeated at home with a 80-75 victory behind senior guard Stephanie Jean-Baptiste’s team-high 25 points and nine rebounds.
“She can score, duh, right? Like we all know that,” Brockport Women’s Basketball Head Coach Corrine Jones said. “But, just her effort rebounding, she had seven o-boards, she’s learned year to year, if I can’t get the ball being denied by good defenders I’ll go get rebounds and putbacks. I thought she cut well today and she played a little harder off the ball, so I was just really proud of that.”
On Friday against William Smith, Jean-Baptiste finished with 21 and 10. On the two nights combined, the tournament MVP finished with 46 points and 19 rebounds.
“We were going to be a physical team,” Jean-Baptiste said. “We knew we had to come in rebound, push the pace and do what we usually do.”
Brockport got off to a hot start. Within the first five minutes of action, the Golden Eagles went on an 8-0 run and jumped out to a 16-3 lead, their largest of the game. Leading the way for Brockport in the first half was Jean-Baptiste with 10 points and junior guard Brianna Carey with eight.
But the Bombers responded. By the end of the first Ithaca cut the lead to three and by halftime the lead was only eight for Brockport, up 40-32. The Golden Eagles were winning the battles in turnovers (9-6), field goals (47%-30%) and outscored the Bombers 30-6 in the paint.
“I just think we came out and really played our way,” Jones said. “We have a high expectation for our players and I thought we did well last night, but I thought we had another level. So I kept challenging them, like there’s another gear, there’s another level and I was really proud that they came out and did what we do right away.”
It wasn’t smooth sailing for the Golden Eagles though as halftime adjustments from Ithaca showed in the third quarter. The Bombers went on a 10-0 run in the quarter to tie the game up at 47 apiece. Ithaca also caused seven turnovers in the 10 minutes, capitalizing on more offensive opportunities.
Ithaca won the quarter 26-21, cutting the lead to three to end the third quarter. Leading the way for the Bombers was sophomore guard Natalie Tucker with seven points along with first year forward Lily Wohlleber and senior forward Avery McPeek with six points apiece.
“They (Ithaca) did a really great job, credit to them,” Jones said. “They’re a really good ball club. They spread us out, they moved the ball, they slowed us down and I just kept saying ‘Play like us, play like us, speed them up,’ and I thought we did that. We put some ball pressure one and finished the game the way we wanted and didn’t let anyone come in and play their way.”
In the fourth quarter it was back and forth. Down 72-71 with 2:40 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles outscored the Bombers 8-4 led by Jean-Baptiste who scored two clutch layups off of defensive stops from sophomore guard Peyton Maneri and junior guard Mandy Brink. The duo also scored two free throws apiece to score the final four points of the game.
The game was capped off with a huge defensive stop from all Golden Eagles. 38% three-point shooter Madison Gill had a chance to tie the game in the corner, but sophomore forward Claire Turner got the rejection. The ball ended up back in Gill’s hands for another shot, but Jean-Baptiste denied the score again which led to a steal from Maneri to seal the victory.
“They’re like the heart of the team,” Jean-Baptiste said. “Getting down, aggressive and rebounding, stealing, tipping the ball and all of that. We’re definitely grateful to have them.”
Joining Jean-Baptiste for the Golden Eagles was Carey with 13 points, four rebounds and three steals. Brink finished with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists while Maneri added seven points, five assists and three rebounds. Turner hauled in nine rebounds to go along with her five points.
For Ithaca, Madalyn Barrows led the way with 13 points shooting 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Tori Drevna followed with 12 points and four assists while McPeek scored 10 points and Tucker notched nine.
After starting the season 1-3 on the road, the Golden Eagles earn two wins at home to break .500. The Golden Eagles have momentum heading into the Thanksgiving break.
“I’m grateful for that right? We need some rest,” Jones said. “We were on the road for four games, so it’s good that we could play at home and get back to .500 here. But, we’re going to take rest and be grateful for it and then we’re going back to work Saturday night.”
The Golden Eagles are back in action at the Vlog to host the RIT Tigers on Tuesday, Dec. 2nd. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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