WBB Championship Central

Monday's selection show (2:30 p.m.)

ALBANY, NY - The third-seeded SUNY Old Westbury women's basketball team used a third-quarter surge to capture its first-ever Skyline Conference Championship with a 57-43 road win over the top-seeded Sage Gators (21-6) Saturday afternoon inside Kahl Gymnasium.  

Head coach Mike Krasnoff's Old Westbury squad (23-5) now awaits its seeding in the NCAA Division III Championship, with pairings announced during Monday's selection show at 2:30 p.m.
 
With Sage leading 10-8 at the end of one period, first-team All-Skyline Conference performer Gen Schoff's layup started a 6-0 Gator run with 6:45 left in the second period.  Later on, fellow All-Skyline first-teamer Jasmine Robinson knocked down a jumper at 4:07 to spark a 7-1 run to give the Panthers a 20-18 advantage heading into halftime.
 
Old Westbury put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring the Gators 22-11. Raven Pentz connected on one of her 3-pointers with 4:04 remaining to ignite a 12-6 run that extended the lead to 13 (42-29).  

Sage answered with an 11-2 run to trim the deficit to 10 (51-41) with 1:52 remaining in the fourth.  Old Westbury would later use a 6-2 run to maintain the double-digit lead to claim the 2016 title. 

Pentz was named the Skyline Conference Championship Most Outstanding Player after finishing with game highs of 20 points (4-of-9 3FG), and five assists.  During the three-game championship run, Pentz averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.0 steals. Ruth Vargas chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds while all-conference second-team member Crystal Barnes grabbed 11 rebounds.
 
Schoff poured in 10 points to lead Sage as Bowman followed with eight points and 14 rebounds.
 
In the end, Old Westbury shot 32.8 percent (21-of-64) from the field, 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from 3-point territory and 50 percent (10-of-20) at the free-throw line.  By comparison, Sage shot 22 percent (13-of-59) from the floor, 10.5 percent (2-of-19) from the beyond the arc and 50 percent (15-of-30) at the stripe.  Old Westbury won the boards battle, 52-46, scoring 14 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.  Both teams drew even in steals (8-8) and blocks (1-1).  The Panthers held the advantage in points in the paint (30-18) and fast-break points (4-2) while converting 13 Sage turnovers into 19 points.

Courtesy Old Westbury sports information