Gators win 75-73 as Madasyn Bush drops 22 on Naz
ALBANY, N.Y. » Sage’s women’s basketball opened it’s first- ever Empire 8 contest with a 75-73 over Nazareth, improving to 6- 3 overall and 1- 0 in the league.
Sage was led by rookie forward Madasyn Bush ( Pottersville, NY/ North Warren Central) as she finished with a career-high 22 points after hitting 9- of-11 shots from the floor in the win.
Sage took a 31- 30 lead into the locker room as Bush converted a threepoint play in the final seconds of the first half. Sage posted an impressive 50 percent shooting performance in the first half as they hit 13- of-26, while holding Nazareth to 40.6 percent shooting (13-32) as well as scoreless from threepoint range (0-8).
Junior Kaitlyn Bowman (Dannemora, NY/Saranac) paced Sage with 11 first- half points, while sophomore forward Megan Flynn (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) was a perfect 4- 4 in the first half with eight points for Sage. Bowman finished with 17 points with seven rebounds and a pair of assists and steals. Flynn was held scoreless in the second half by Nazareth. Junior Emily Parslow (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) added 13 points with four assists and three steals to help lead Sage on Tuesday night.
Nazareth’s senior guard Samantha Peebles (Syracuse, NY/ Westhill) added 11 first- half points for the Golden Flyers with a 4- 6 effort from the floor. Sophomore forward Rachel Benedict ( Brockport, NY/Brockport) added nine of her 11 points in the first half with eight rebounds for the game. Sage had a commanding 32-17 lead at the half and cruised to the road win as eight different players scored in the action. Sage shot 60 percent from three- point range in the second half to ease to the win converting 3- 5 shots.
Peebles led all scorers with her 27 points, converting 9- of-16 shots from the floor with a 9-12 performance from the line. She added six boards with six steals, three assists and a block, but it was not enough to lift Nazareth past Sage.
Sage led by seven with 26 seconds left before Nazareth got back to back three point baskets from sopho- more Erica Bradley (Lockport, NY/Starpoint) and sophomore Kristen Simmons ( Victor, NY/ Victor) but it was not enough as time expired on Simmons shot to pull the Golden Flyers within two points as time expired.
Sage will be in action next on Jan. 6 as the Gators host Elmira College in a 4 p.m. Empire 8 contest at Kahl Gym. Nazareth is back in action on Jan. 5 with a road Empire 8 contest at Utica College at 8 p.m.