Purple (D2-West Chester) Takes Sole Possession of First in Philly/Suburban Women’s Summer League After Battle of Unbeatens With Red (D2-Chestnut Hill
By Bob Heller and Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
HATBORO, Pa. — In racetrack parlance, an early pecking order has broken out in the first turn at the top of the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League following Tuesday night’s action in the first part of week two at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.
In a battle of two of the remaining three unbeaten squads in the nine-team league Team Purple (D2-West Chester) bested Team Red (D2-Chestnut Hill) 62-52 to take a half-game lead at 3-0 over Team Black (D2-Jefferson), the other unbeaten (2–0), which took its turn serving a bye.
No one scored 20 or more points in the four games, but Michelle Kozicki for Purple came close with 19.
Purple has a bye Thursday night just after Wednesday’s official arrival of summer, giving Black a chance to catch the frontrunners when the Rams return to action meeting 0-2 Sun also known as the third of the three draft teams at 7:45 p.m. on Court Two in one of the two nightcap games.
The loss to Purple dropped Red into a three-way tie for third at 2-1 a game back with Kelly Green or Draft Team 1, which beat Sun or Draft Team-3, 59-40; and Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family), which delivered a 63-54 win over 0-3 Maroon (D3-Arcadia).
By chance those teams are in their natural 3-4-5 seed slots because Red is 1-0 in a head-to-head win Thursday over Kelly Green, while Sky Blue is fourth being 0-0 among the threesome.
The three designated draft teams are so labelled since none are dominated by enough players from teams competing in the winter.
Pink (1-1), in the remaining outcome, moved alone up to .500 in sixth place off Tuesday’s 49-42 win over Royal Blue (D3-Cabrini), which at 0-3 is tied at the bottom in eighth with Maroon.
But one will enter the win column, Thursday, the two meeting each other at 7:45 p.m. on Court 1.
In the third-place deadlock of 2-1 squads, Kelly Green and Sky Blue will meet Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on Court 2.
Thursday’s other game has Red (2-1) meeting Pink (1-1) at 6:30 p.m. on Court 1.
That’s your top of the post summary, here’s Bob Heller with the four-game recap detail followed by what passes as your scoreboard.
Recaps
Purple 62 Red 52
Team Purple (D2-West Chester University) produced a dominant third quarter as they pulled away from Team Red (D2-Chestnut Hill College) to remain unbeaten with a 62-42 win, improving to 3-0 on the season and taking a ½ game lead over Black (D2-Thomas Jefferson University) who was idle Tuesday and has a 2-0 record.
Red suffers their first loss and drops to 2-1 slipping into a an early three-way tied for third place in the league standings.
The two teams combined to hit 18 three-point baskets in the game with each team accounting for nine long range tallies.
Michelle Kozicki led Purple with 19 points and three three-point baskets. Leah Johnson added 13 and Anna McTamney added 12.
Bri Rider and Bridie McCann each made three three-point baskets to pace the Red team with 17 and 13 points respectively.
It was Red who erased a 7-0 start by Purple with a 13-2 run fueled by three pointers from Avery White, McCann and Kait Carter.
Purple hung close, trailing by two, 17-15 heading into the second quarter and later retook the lead on a Kozicki three-ball at 24-21.
Red followed with six straight points, three from Caroline Herb (FG and FT) and a three-point basket from Sara Tamoun to go back in front before Purple tallied the final six points (three-balls from Kozicki and McTamney) to lead 30-27 at the half.
Purple got off to a hot start in the third quarter while Red’s offense went cold with Purple using a 9-3 run to take a 39-30 lead.
McCann’s three-ball pulled Red back within four 40-36 at the midway point of the quarter before Purple took advantage of the cold-shooting opponents with a 14-6 run to close out the quarter and take a 54-42 lead.
Rachel Conran opened the fourth quarter with a three-point basket to give Purple their biggest lead at 57-42.
Red scored the next seven points to get the lead into single digits 57-49 but managed just one more basket the rest of the way as Purple went on to the 62-52 victory.
Pink 49 Royal Blue 42
A seasoned Team Pink (alumni players) dictated the pace of play as they held team Royal Blue (D3-Cabrini University) to just 42 points as they earned their first win of the season 49-42 in the early game on Court Two.
Pink is now 1-1 on the season while Royal Blue drops to 0-3.
Two graduates from Chestnut Hill College, Lauren Crim and Cassie Sebold led the Pink squad with 12 and ten points respectively.
Crim made three three-point baskets while Sebold connected on four of six free throws. Jen Kremp, a USciences graduate added nine points.
Camryn Lexow led Royal with 11 points while Miranda Liebtag and Ella Gordon chipped in ten and eight respectively.
Throughout the first two quarters neither team could gain a solid upper hand with the biggest lead at any one time being four points.
The first two minutes saw six ties and four lead changes with Pink taking a 14-12 lead off Crim’s three-ball at the end of the first quarter and royal taking a 24-22 lead off Tamia Wessels in the second before Pink closed the gap to one 27-26 by halftime.
Royal opened the third quarter with a 9-3 run to take their biggest lead at 36-29 with Camryn Graham scoring the final four points of the run.
Pink countered with baskets from Sebold and Crim with Kremp added a free throw with 1:19 left in the quarter to close out the scoring as Royal led by two 36-34 heading into the final ten minutes of action.
Lexie Edwards opened the scoring in the fourth quarter at the 6:32 mark as both teams were cold in the opening three minutes.
Kremp broke the tie at the 4:44 mark with a basket before Liebtag tied the game again at 38-38.
Pink scored the next seven points getting a basket from Erin Morgan (La Salle grad), andAbbey Spratt (Chestnut Hill grad) with a three point basket from Drexel Graduate Kate Connelly to take a 45-38 lead with 2:40 left.
Pink then decided to hold the ball on their remaining possessions, a smart decision as Royal was forced to foul and put Pink on the free throw line.
Pink scored four points from the charity stripe in the final 1:50 with Sebold sinking the final two with 39.8 seconds left to seal the win.
Sky Blue 63 Maroon 54
Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family University) held off a tenacious Maroon (D3-Arcadia University) squad to win their second straight game, 63-54 in the late game on Court One.
Sky Blue improves to 2-1 and sits in an early three-way tie with Red and Kelly Green. Maroon is still winless at 0-3.
Five players scored eight or more points for the Sky Blue squad led by Kara Meredith’s 11 points. Carolyn Prevost added ten with Claire Dougherty chipping in nine. Jen Kokolus and Ava Morrow had eight apiece.
Maroon’s Jackie Skalski led all scorers with 17 points while Emily Schall added nine and Dayna Balsa eight.
Sky used a 10-2 run to close out the first quarter and take a 15-8 lead, expanding it to 22-11 early in the second quarter.
Maroon countered with a 9-2 uprising to close within four 24-20 and cut the margin down to three 29-26 at halftime.
Skalski’s three-point basket to open the third quarter tied the game at 29-29.
After both teams exchanged three-point baskets Prevost and Morrow had back-to-back scores to put Sky back up by four 36-32 and later pushed their lead to eight 49-41 as the period was nearing its end.
Maroon got as close as six points twice in the fourth quarter before Sky started to pull away. Taylor Hinkle’s three-point basket increased Sky’s lead to double digits for the first time, 58-47 and Maroon could come no closer than eight points the rest of the way with Meredith making a free throw in the waning seconds to give her team the nine-point win, 63-54.
Kelly Green 59 Sun 40
Two draft teams battled it out in the opening game on Court One with Team Kelly Green defeating Team Sun 59-40 to earn their second win of the season.
Kelly Green is now 2-1 and sits in an early three-way tie with Red and Sky Blue. Sun falls to 0-2.
Dana Bandurick (Swarthmore ’24) led all scorers with 17 points, Anna Hansson (Swarthmore ’26) added 11 points.
Allie Sillo (Illinois Tech ’25) led Sun with nine points while sisters Casey and Shannon Remolde (Kutzown ’25) chipped in eight apiece.
Sun held an early 5-4 lead before Kelly went on a 15-2 run to close out the first quarter and take a double digit lead 19-7.
Sun opened the second quarter with a 6-1 run, capped by a Rachel Saxton (Muhlenberg ’25) basket to pull within seven 20-13.
Another solid run by Kelly followed as they opened up a 32-18 lead at halftime.
Kelly continued to increase the lead in the second half, opening the third quarter with an 8-3 run to go up 42-21 and later took their largest lead at 50-26 on a Hansson put-back as the third quarter was coming to a close.
Sillo connected on back-to-back three pointers in the fourth quarter to bring Sun within 14, 51-37.
However, the Sun team would get no closer the rest of the way as Kelly outscored them 8-3 over the final five minutes to win by 19 points.
Standings (Thru Wed., June 21)
Team W L Pct. GB PF PA
Purple 3 0 1.000 — 239 159
Black 2 0 1.000 0.5 135 129
Red 2 1 .667 1 188 164
Kelly Green 2 1 .667 1 172 162
Sky Blue 2 1 .667 1 188 169
Pink 1 1 .500 1.5 98 125
Sun 0 2 .000 2.5 84 116
Royal Blue 0 3 .000 3 149 172
Maroon 0 3 .000 3 160 217
Players Scoring 20 or More Points
29-Cassie Murphy, Black, W, vs. Royal Blue, June 15
23-Michelle Kozicki, Purple, W, vs. Maroon, June 15
20-Valerie McGriff, Purple, W, vs. Maroon, June 15
22-Haley Meinel, Black, (W-OT) vs. Sky Blue, June 13
20-Cassie Murphy, Black (W-OT), vs. Sky Blue, June 13
20-Ava Morrow, Sky Blue (L-OT), vs. Black, June 13
Running Results/Advance Schedule
Tuesday, June 20
Purple (West Chester) 62, Red (Chestnut Hill) 52
Pink (Draft Team – 2) 49, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 42
Kelly Green (Draft Team -1) 59, Sun (Draft Team – 3) 40
Sky Blue (Holy Family) 63, Maroon (Arcadia) 54
Bye: Black (Jefferson)
Thursday, June 15
Black (Jefferson) 64, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 61
Red (Chestnut Hill) 76, Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 54
Sky Blue (Holy Family) 57, Sun (Draft Team-3) 44
Purple (West Chester) 94, Maroon (Arcadia) 58
Bye: Pink
Tuesday, June 13
Black (Jefferson) 71, Sky Blue 68 (Holy Family), ovt.
Kelly Green (Draft-1) 59, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 46
Purple (West Chester) 83, Pink (Draft-2) 49
Red (Chestnut Hill) 60, Maroon (Arcadia) 48
Bye – Sun (Draft-3)
Thursday, June 22
Early Games (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: Red (2-1) vs. Pink (1-1)
Court 2: Sky Blue (2-1) vs. Kelly Green (2-1)
Late Games (7:45 p.m.)
Court 1: Royal Blue (0-3) vs. Maroon (0-3)
Court 2: Sun (0-2) vs. Black (2-0)
Bye: Purple (3-0)
Tuesday, June 27
Early Games (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: Maroon vs. Black
Court 2: Sky Blue vs. Purple
Late Games (7:45 p.m.)
Court 1: Sun vs. Pink
Court 2: Red vs. Royal Blue
Bye: Kelly Green
Thursday, June 29
Early Games (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: Royal Blue vs. Purple
Court 2: Sun vs. Maroon
Late Games (7:45 p.m.)
Court 1: Sky Blue vs. Pink
Court 2: Black vs. Kelly Green
Bye: Red
Tuesday, July 4
Dark (Holiday Week)
Thursday, July 6
Dark (Holiday Week)
Tuesday, July 11
Early Games (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: Pink vs. Kelly Green
Court 2: Sun vs. Red
Late Games (7:45 p.m.)
Court 1: Purple vs. Black
Court 2: Sky Blue vs. Royal Blue
Bye: Maroon
Thursday, July 13
Early Games (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: Sky Blue vs. Red
Court 2: Black vs. Pink
Late Games (7:45 p.m.)
Court 1: Sun vs. Purple
Court 2: Kelly Green vs. Maroon
Bye: Royal Blue
Tuesday, July 18 (Regular Season Ends)
Early Games (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: Sun vs. Royal Blue
Court 2: Maroon vs Pink
Late Games (7:45 p.m.)
Court 1: Black vs. Red
Court 2: Maroon vs. Pink
Bye: Sky Blue
Playoffs
Thursday, July 20
Play-In Round
7 pm.
Court 1: 8th seed vs. 9th seed (Winner advances)
Tuesday, July 25th
Quarterfinals
Early Games (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: 1-seed vs 8-9 winner
Court 2: 3-seed vs. 6-seed
Late Games (7:45 p.m.)
Court 1: 2-seed vs. 7-seed
Court 2: 4-seed vs. 5-seed
Thursday, July 27
Semifinals
Early Game (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: Highest Advancing Seed vs. Lowest Advancing Seed
Late Game (7:45 p.m.)
Court 2: Other Advancing Seeds Meet
Tuesday, August 1
Championship (7 p.m.)
Court 1: Semifinal Winners Meet
Season Seed Tracker
Codes: BK – Black; KG – Kelly Green; MR-Maroon; PK- Pink; PU-Purple; RD-Red; RB-Royal Blue; SB-Sky Blue; SU-Sun
Purple (D2-West Chester) 3-0: vs. W-PK; vs. W-MR; vs. W-RD; Bye; vs. SB; vs. RB; vs. BK; vs. SU; vs. KG
Black (D2-Jefferson) 2-0: vs. W-SB (OT); vs. W-RB; Bye; vs. SU; vs. MR; vs. KG; vs. PU; vs. PK; vs. RD
Red (D2-Chestnut Hill) 2-1: vs. W-MR; vs. W-KG; vs. L-PU; vs. PK; vs. RB; vs. SU; vs. SB; vs. BK
Kelly Green (Draft-1) 2-1: vs. W-RB; vs. L-RD; vs. W-SU; vs. SB; vs. BK; vs. PK; vs. MR; vs. PU
Pink (Draft-2) 1-1: vs. L-PU: Bye, vs. W-RB; vs. RD; vs. SU; vs SB; vs. KG; vs. BK; vs. MR
Sun (Draft-3) 0-2: Bye; vs.L-SB; vs. L-KG; vs. BK; vs. PK; vs. MR; vs. RD; vs. PU; vs. RB
Maroon (D3-Arcadia) 0-3: vs. L-RD; vs. L-PU; vs. L-SB; vs. RB; vs. BK; vs. SU; vs. KG; vs. PK
Royal Blue (D3-Cabrini) 0-3: vs. L-KG; vs. L-BK; vs. L-PK; vs. MR; vs. RD; vs. PU; vs. SB; vs. SU
posted by Mel Greenberg | 1:27 AM
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