Women's Basketball Notches Second Straight Win With 56-47 ECC Victory At Mercy

Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.-The University of Bridgeport women's basketball team defeated the host Mercy College Mavericks, 56-47, in an East Coast Conference contest on a cold January Saturday afternoon in Westchester Country.  The win gives the Purple Knights their first back-to-back triumphs of the 2014-15 season, as UB edged St. Thomas Aquinas by two points at home on Thursday night.  Bridgeport is now 4-16 overall and 2-10 in the ECC.  Mercy falls to 7-12 overall and 1-11 in conference action.

UB raced out to a 35-27 lead at the half, but the Purple Knights had to withstand their own ice-cold shooting in the second half to grab the win.  As a team, Bridgeport hit only 4-of-30 field goals in the final 20 minutes, but three of those four field goals were three-point shots.  A big factor in Saturday's win by the Purple Knights was the fact the team committed only nine turnovers on the day, while dishing out 15 assists.  Mercy committed 22 turnovers on the afternoon.

Senior Tiara Aziz (Easton, Pa.) led the Bridgeport offensive attack on Saturday scoring a game-high 21 points off the UB bench.  Classmates Jenna Hoffman (Manchester Center, Vt.) and Casey Bray (Staten Island, N.Y.) also reached double-digits scoring 11 points apiece.  Hoffman had a solid all-around day, as she also chipped in six rebounds and had five assists.  Bray also had six boards on the afternoon.

Junior Shannon Holt (Holden, Mass.) led the Purple Knights on the glass with 10 rebounds.

Deasia Goodson and Brandone Roberts led the Mercy offense, as they each scored nine points.  Goodson finished with a double-double recording 15 rebounds.

Up nest, the UB women's basketball team will look to run its winning streak to three games when the Purple Knights wrap up a two-game ECC road trip at LIU Post on Wednesday night.  Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m.