MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The season will continue for the SUNY Morrisville women's basketball team, who claimed their second United East title in as many seasons in thrilling fashion on their home court; defeating second seeded Penn St. Harrisburg 47-42 in Morrisville.
With the win, Morrisville earns the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, learning their opponent in the selection show scheduled Monday for 2:30 p.m. ET on ncaa.com.
THE BASICS:

• Final Score: Morrisville 47, PS-Harrisburg 42 (halftime: Harrisburg 23-21)
• Location: SUNY Morrisville, STUAC Gymnasium, Morrisville, N.Y.
• Records: Morrisville 20-7, Penn St. Harrisburg 17-10

 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The top seeded SUNY Morrisville women's basketball team claimed their second United East Tournament title Saturday in as many years, earning a hard fought victory to continue the season to the national stage, with a 47-42 defeat of second seeded Penn St. Harrisburg in the league's championship final hosted by the Mustangs in Morrisville.
• Taylor Colone-Microni (Oneonta, N.Y.) led all scorers with 16 points, hitting three clutch three-pointers while adding a critical free throw down the stretch to seal the win for the Mustangs to go along with two steals and two assists. 
• Colone-Microni's efforts in the title game lauded her Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
• Rachel Vieira (Caruthers, Calif.) added 10 points to the Mustang totals, collecting two rebounds and six steals on the day to go along with her four assists.
• Carli Pardee (South Kortright, N.Y.) added eight points, while snagging seven boards, while Cara Walker (Phelps, N.Y.) pulled down a team best nine rebounds, chipping in five points.
• Ciani Redd-Howard led Harrisburg with 15 points, completing the double-double with 13 rebounds, while Bailey Oehmig collected 10 points to go along with 14 boards.
• Both teams played back-and-forth through the opening five minutes of the contest, each collecting three buckets apiece, but it was a steal by Vieira that resulted in a fast break layup that sparked the Mustangs offensive unit, who finished the quarter with a 9-0 run to lead 15-6 after one.
• Vieira had eight points in the quarter for the Mustangs.
• In the second, Pardee hit a three to put the Mustangs ahead by 11, before Harrisburg went on an 11-0 run to tie the contest at 20 with 1:58 to go before the half.
• A free throw by Tayghan Doorley (Hornell, N.Y.) put the Mustangs up by one, but Harrisburg answered with one from long range to head into the half leading 23-21.
• The Nittany Lions went up by seven early in the third, but Colone-Microni responded for Morrisville with back-to-back three-pointers cutting the deficit to one.
• After Harrisburg regained a four-point advantage, the senior added two from the free throw line to bring the Mustangs back within one possession and later in the quarter added her third three-pointer of the night to contribute to Morrisville's 37-36 advantage after three.
• Colone-Microni netted 11 of her game total 16 in the third quarter of play for the Mustangs.
• In the fourth, as with much of the rest of the contest, both teams battled on each end of the floor and Harrisburg struck with an early layup to regain the lead, following with a three-pointer from Redd-Howard for the four-point advantage just two minutes in.
• Brooke Hammersley (Weedsport, N.Y.) cut the lead to two with an offensive rebound follow-up before both teams hit a scoring drought until the 3:11 mark when Colone-Microni converted both from the free throw line to tie the contest at 41.
• Walker drove from the left wing and hit a pull up jumper to put the Mustangs ahead by two with 1:44 to go before Hammersley collected a layup of her own to extend the lead to four with 14 seconds remaining.
• Giahny Correa brought the Nittany Lions within one possession hitting the backend of two free throws, but a Harrisburg foul sent Colone-Microni to the line, where she hit the front end of two with eight seconds remaining for the four-point host lead.
• Harrisburg attempted to use their game from beyond the arc to pull within one, but the shot was off mark and Morrisville regained possession with five ticks to go.
• A foul on the visitors sent Walker to the line with just over a second showing on the clock, and she hit one of two to seal the win for the top seeds.
• Morrisville collected a total 18 points off 20 Nittany Lion miscues and took to the races as they posted 10 points on the fast break.
• Morrisville shot 31.9% from the floor on the night, hitting 11-of-15 from the free throw line, while collecting six three-pointers.
• Harrisburg struggled from the floor hitting just 26.2%, while converting just 5-of-13 from the free throw line.

 

WHAT'S NEXT:
 

• Morrisville will learn of their opponent in the NCAA Division III Tournament Monday afternoon during the airing of the selection show at 2:30 p.m. ET.
• This is the second straight season head coach Erin Rotchford has guided the Mustangs to the NCAA Tournament, registering a 20-win season for a second time.

 
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