Box Score

DALLAS, Penn. (March 1, 2017) – Sophomore guard Japriya Carroll (York, PA/York Catholic) came up big down the stretch to help the Misericordia University women's basketball team outlast Rutgers University-Camden, 59-53, in the first round of the ECAC Division III Women's Basketball Championship here Wednesday night.
 
The Scarlet Raptors, who entered the post-season as the third seed in the ECAC's Region 4, close the campaign with a 14-12 record. They finished with a loss in the ECAC tournament for the second consecutive season.
 
Misericordia University, the second seed in Region 4, advanced to the ECAC quarterfinals with a 19-8 record. The Cougars will play the top-ranked team in Region 4, Stevenson University, in a 2 p.m. game Friday at the tournament's overall No. 1 seed, Carnegie Mellon University of Pittsburgh, Penn. Stevenson advanced with a 57-46 win over Cabrini College Wednesday.
 
This season marks the first time the ECAC is combining all of its regions into one big tournament. In previous years, the organization crowned a champion in four different regions.
 
With a strong fourth-quarter comeback, Rutgers-Camden nearly pulled the upset to extend its season to Pittsburgh. Trailing, 45-38, entering the final frame, the Scarlet Raptors opened the quarter with a 15-5 run to grab the lead. They surged ahead on a layup and free throw by sophomore guard Ariel Robinson (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic), making it a 51-50 game. They added two more points on a pair of free throws by senior center Caroline Santiago (Buena, NJ/Buena Regional), playing what turned out to be her last collegiate game. Santiago's foul shots, with 2:01 remaining, hiked the Raptors' lead to 53-50.
 
Moments later, Carroll started her late-game heroics for the Cougars. She made two free throws with 1:43 remaining to cut the gap to 53-52. After the Cougars rebounded a missed Scarlet Raptor shot, Carroll hit a jumper, was fouled, and added a free throw with 1:13 remaining, giving Misericordia the lead for good, 55-53. Rutgers-Camden attempted to take the lead with a three-pointer with 52 seconds remaining, but the shot was off the mark and was rebounded by Misericordia senior forward Justine Seely (Benton, PA/Benton), who was the MAC Freedom Player of the Year this season.
 
Moments later, the Scarlet Raptors got another life when junior guard/forward Cara Racobaldo (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) collected the last of her game-high eight steals, but Seely rebounded another Raptor miss. Carroll hit a pair of foul shots with eight seconds remaining to make it a 57-53 game and Seely tacked on two free throws with one second remaining for the final margin.
 
The end of the game mirrored the rest of the contest, which was a dogfight the whole way. Trailing, 13-10, entering the second quarter, Rutgers-Camden grabbed its first lead since an early 3-0 bulge as Racobaldo hit a three-pointer to lift the Raptors in front, 15-13. After a foul shot by the Cougars, junior guard Jovan Childers (Bridgeton, NJ/Bridgeton) collected back-to-back field goals, the last one following a steal by Robinson, to put Rutgers-Camden ahead, 19-14.
 
Misericordia countered with seven straight points, including a lead-changing trey by senior guard Shannon Croasdale (Milford, NJ/Delaware Valley Regional), to regain a 21-19 lead. After Robinson tied the game for the Raptors at 21-21, Misericordia took the first-half lead for good, 24-21, on a trey by Carroll. Croasdale added a pair of foul shots to give Misericordia a 26-21 halftime lead. Eleven of those Cougar points came from the hot hand of sophomore forward Rachel Carmody (Waymart, PA/Western Wayne).
 
The Cougars outscored the Scarlet Raptors, 19-17, in the third quarter to take their seven-point lead into the wild final 10 minutes.
 
Carroll finished with a game-high 16 points, while Croasdale, Seely and Carmody added 13 apiece. Seely also notched a game-high 15 rebounds to complete a double-double, while adding three blocked shots. Both Carroll and Seely shot 9-for-10 from the foul line, helping the Cougars finish 26-for-30 (86.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
Childers and Robinson led the Scarlet Raptors with 11 points apiece. Robinson also added seven rebounds and four steals, while Childers had six boards and three assists. Childers will take 866 career points into her senior season next year.
 
Racobaldo finished her season with a history-making night, notching seven points, a team-high 12 rebounds and a game-high seven assists, to add to her game high of eight steals. The seven assists helped her finish the season with 103 assists as she became the first player in program history to collect three 100-assist seasons. She also raised her career total to 352 assists. She will enter her senior year only nine assists shy of the program record of 361, set by Rutgers-Camden Hall of Famer Karla Robinson (1990-94), who now serves as one of the Raptors' assistant coaches.
 
Senior center Caroline Santiago (Buena, NJ/Buena Regional) finished her career with a seven-point, six-rebound game. In her stellar four-year career, split evenly between Cumberland County College and Rutgers-Camden, she combined for 886 points and 823 rebounds.
 
Junior forward Michelle Obasi (Camden, NJ/Camden Catholic) notched nine points and three blocked shots. When she starts her senior season next fall, she will be only 135 points from joining the career 1,000-point club.
 
Sophomore guard Gabby Greene (Howell, NJ/Howell), meanwhile, hit a pair of three-pointers on her way to six points. She finished the year with a single-season program record with 82 three-pointers. With 134 career treys, she already is fourth on the program's all-time list. She is 12 treys behind Megan Crank (1992-96) for third place in program history and is only 28 three-pointers shy of the Rutgers-Camden career mark set by Alex Gravinese (2012-15).
 
ECAC Div. III Women's Basketball Championship bracket