Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
JCU Women's Basketball NCAA WBB
Jose Figueroa
54
SUNY New Paltz SUNYNP 26-3,17-1 SUNYAC
74
Winner John Carroll JCU 26-4,11-3 NCAC
SUNY New Paltz SUNYNP
26-3,17-1 SUNYAC
54
Final
74
John Carroll JCU
26-4,11-3 NCAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SUNY New Paltz SUNYNP 12 13 11 18 54
John Carroll JCU 13 17 26 18 74

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | JCUSID

HISTORY AT HOME: #11 Women's Basketball Bound for Round of 16 After Beating New Paltz

A dominant third quarter keyed a historic victory in the DeCarlo Center for the Blue Streaks

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – For the first time in program history, John Carroll Women's Basketball is bound for the Round of 16.

In the Second Round of the Division III NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, the #11 ranked John Carroll Blue Streaks advance in a gritty victory over #21 SUNY New Paltz, 74-54, to move to a new round for JCU in the tournament.

"I'm glad that we're able to stay true to who we are as a John Carroll team," said Head Coach Beth Andrews '15. "I always say to them in the huddles to just be John Carroll. And once again, Ava said this yesterday, (our players) stepped up in big ways. It took all of us, but we got it. And it's another (piece of) history that we're making here. So I'm excited."

After the Hawks got the game going with a layup from Karly Wittenbauer, JCU responded with a 5-point run after free throws from Carly Perusek. Graci Semptimphelter, ranking top-10 nationally in 3-pointer percentage, kept JCU going.

This would be followed by a Graci Semptimphelter three, who led the NCAC in three point percentage. After SUNY New Paltz would reclaim the lead, the Blue Streaks would go back up by three after back-to-back layups from Kaylie McKenney and Nicci Finazzo. 

The Blue Streaks would take that three point lead into the final 20 seconds after Carmen Heuker and Perusek hit layups. The Hawks stayed in it with a layup from Macie Perry right before the buzzer. After ten minutes of play, John Carroll led, 13-12.

JCU caught fire to start the second, as Perusek and Heuker doubled up on layups again to maintain the advantage. New Paltz continued to hang around as both squads would go back and forth trading buckets. Into the final minute of the first half, Brooke Laub and Finazzo connected on consecutive shots from beyond the arc to give JCU their biggest lead thus far at seven. Brianna Fitzgerald got a big bucket for the Hawks at the horn to make the score 30-25 at the break.

All five starters for the Blue Streaks and the two players who came off the bench scored in the first half for JCU, with Perusek leading the way with eight points at the break while playing great defense. Fitzgerald led the way for both sides with nine points and five assists at halftime. Many stats were similar at half including assists (8-7 in favor of JCU), turnovers (11), and steals (4). 

The momentum of the game continued to swing in favor of the Blue Streaks, as the hosts scored six of the first eight points of the second half coming off of threes from Ava Ryncarz and Semptimphelter. This would give the Blue Streaks their first double-digit advantage at 37-27 into the first media timeout of the second half.

"That is an outstanding team. And I was just saying to (Ava and Carly) in the hallway, I've never seen a player like number four, she literally never stopped moving for 40 minutes," said Andrews. "So just all like praise to them for how hard they made us work. It literally took our entire army to take them down, but came down to what we're good at. Again, we played defense, we found our open shooters, and we had pace for 40 minutes."

Midway through the second, JCU maintained the double-digit lead after a layup from Semptimphelter and an up and under from Finazzo to stretch the lead to 12. Out of nowhere, the Blue Streaks offense caught fire and took firm control, as star Ava Ryncarz drained back-to-back threes. 

The triples secured the program record for 3-pointers in a season for the Aurora native. Ryncarz's 92nd make surpassed Emilee Ritchie (2010-11). 

"It's really cool, I'm really grateful to be able to get that. But once again, that comes just with the team's success," said Ryncarz. "i wouldn't be able to get threes if other people weren't stepping up and scoring and allowing me to take those shots. My coaches have confidence in me, obviously, I've had some rough games with shooting, but I still have confidence because of them, because of my teammates. So just once again, obviously not thinking about the records, but it's great when they come. Obviously, it's super cool to look at. Obviously, it's been, I don't know how long since someone's broken that so obviously I don't take it for granted. But once again, it's really team success that got me here."

A tough post hook by Perusek through contact upped the JCU lead to 56-36 at the end of the third. 

SUNY New Paltz did not go away quietly, as a couple of buckets from Wittenbauer and Fitzgerald brought them a little closer. That is until a nifty move by Laub gave her space to make a layup. The Hawks continued to try and hang around, but anytime New Paltz got close, the Blue Streaks got a big bucket to answer, and it usually came within the paint. Kaylie McKenney contributed to that with an impressive post hook. With under five minutes left, the Hawks went over the limit, but the dagger came from Carmen Heuker with a triple with just under two minutes left. Foul trouble for key players also shut down the comeback attempt for the visitors.

It was a group effort for JCU offensively, as four out of five starters scored in double figures, Ryncarz led the way with 16 points, including 13 points in the second half. Carly Perusek contributed 14 points and 6 rebounds and some impressive defense. As a team, JCU outrebounded the Hawks, 34-28, which has been a staple of their team all year long. 

"I was emotional at the end of the game, because you just see all of them hugging, you see the excitement," said Andrews. "I see freshmen running off the floor. Like to be able to be able to play freshmen in a game like that is something that they were able to accomplish, right? Like, we only got those freshmen because they did their job. We talked about culture a lot yesterday, so that's such a big piece for the culture and the taste that these freshmen are getting in my leadership is doing. But it's just been such a historic season with the record breaking." 

Next Up
In the Round of 16 next weekend, the Blue Streaks will take on North Coast Athletic Conference rivals the Denison Big Red for the third time this season with a chance to move onto the Round of 8.
Print Friendly Version

Sponsors