Women’s Basketball faces tough loss in opening round of USCAA National Championship Tournament

BUFFALO, N.Y. --- Carlow University women's basketball suffered an 84-77 loss to No. 5 seed Five Towns College in the opening round of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship Tournament Tuesday afternoon.

Three different Celtics tallied double-doubles in the effort, but it was not enough to lift Carlow past the Sound (12-5).

Sydney Carr (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS) led the Celtics with 15 points. Nina Cano (Greenville, Pa./Greenville HS/Grove City College) recorded a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Emiley Hillgartner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS) added a double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds. Emari Stinnette (Baltimore, Md./Randallstown HS) contributed 14 points off the bench, and Shaelyn Clark (Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong HS) scored her first double-double of the season with 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals.

Five Towns sent Carlow (11-13) to the line where the Celtics converted just 65.5 percent (21 for 32) and the Sound forced 25 turnovers on the day, resulting in 29 points.

The Sound jumped out to a 7-2 advantage to start the game, leading 11-5 midway through. Back-to-back treys from Carr tied the game at 13-all, but Five Towns outscored Carlow 9-3 to end the first quarter ahead, 22-16.

Carlow once again cut the Sound's advantage to one early in the second quarter before Five Towns put together a 9-2 run to lead, 33-25. The Sound pushed its lead to 10 points late in the half until a layup from Hillgartner and an and-one layup and free throw by Cano cut that lead in half.

Five Towns ended the quarter outscoring the Celtics 5-1 to take a nine-point lead into intermission.

The Celtics returned from halftime with renewed energy, holding the Sound scoreless through the first half of the third quarter and scoring 13 unanswered points to lead, 50-46. Five Towns tied the game at 50-all 30 seconds later and kept pace with Carlow through the remainder of the quarter, ending the third ahead once again, 63-59.

Although Carlow continued to battle through the fourth, the Sound maintained their advantage until the very end.

The Celtics outrebounded Five Towns 57-54 and outscored them 20-16 in second-chance points. The Sound outscored Carlow 42-28 in the paint and 16-15 off the bench.

Danayjha Moore led the Sound with a game-high 24 points. Three other Five Towns players tallied double figures, and Ihari Oromo recorded a double-double 10 points and 13 rebounds in the win.

The Celtics face No. 6 seed University of Maine Fort Kent for a consolation game tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. Keep up with all the action at https://uscaachampionships.com/sports/wbkb/index or at the links above.