Womhoops Guru

Mel Greenberg covered college and professional women’s basketball for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he worked for 40 plus years. Greenberg pioneered national coverage of the game, including the original Top 25 women's college poll. His knowledge has earned him nicknames such as "The Guru" and "The Godfather," as well as induction into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

Monday, July 31, 2023

5-Seed Team Pink (Draft Team-2) Looks to Continue Upset Streak Playing 2-Seed Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family) in Philly/Suburban Women’s League Championship

By Bob Heller and Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

HATBORO, Pa. – Can a team claiming the color Pink (Draft Team-2) and seeded fifth off a 4-4 regular season eight-game schedule make it a three-peat or will second-seeded Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family) continue its dominance through nine games after a narrow overtime loss back in June to Black (D2-Jefferson) when the two meet Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for the 2023 Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League Championship on Court 1 at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades?

Off their regular season meeting on June 29, the favorite would have to be Holy Family, a 67-51 victory, especially after Jefferson, unbeaten and the top seed, succumbed to a giant fourth-quarter surge to Pink in Thursday night’s semifinals.

But despite all Pink’s losses came at the hands of the top four seeds, the performance in its first two playoff games, slipping past 4^th-seeded Red (D2-Chestnut Hill) in the quarterfinals and then Thursday’s shocker, it wouldn’t be smart to downplay their chances.

Ironically, though dominating the mid-June/late-July schedules, Jefferson has fallen three straight times in the playoffs to basically grad-squad units.

Once again Ari Bluestein’s Sports Fan Based Network will live stream the game and Luke Nichols will be back on the call.

The youtube link is https://www.youtube.com/live/dIq0tkHFLC0?feature=share

Next year will be Commissioner David Kessler’s 30^th anniversary running the league, having started elsewhere in 1994 when he worked for the Philadelphia Dept. of Recreation, with one year deducted for the Covid pandemic.

This season, nine teams competed, six as is allowed by the NCAA for D-II and D-III fielding mostly the same units that compete in the winter. The three others, like Pink, referred to as draft squads, fitted enrollees wanting to play together and also alums from D-1 schools like recent Drexel grad Kate Connolly on Pink.

The Pink squad, basically a grad unit, returned eight of 11 from last season’s champions but not enough to be labelled again as grads from the former USciences squad, a strong bunch whose alma mater closed shop several seasons ago when the school merged with D-1 Saint Joseph’s.

Royal Blue which is D-3 Cabrini recently announced it is doing likewise in the spring, the campus sold to Villanova but in losing to Holy Family in the quarterfinals that might be the last as a unit with not enough to still compete considering all who turned to the transfer portal after the recent surprise news.

Jefferson, which rallied for the season opener against Holy Family, which also is a Southern Division rival in the Central Atlantic Athletic Conference (CACC), had been humming along before escaping with a last minute two-point win over Sun (Draft Team-3) in the quarterfinals.

Sun, though playing better after the league’s week off for the July 4^th holiday, had not won a game until upsetting Maroon (D3-Arcadia) in the opening 8-9 seed first-round game.

In the summer of 2019, before the 2020 Covid-caused suspension, Holy Family upset the former USciences undergrads in the championship.

That happened as Bernadette Laukaitis was about to return to her alma mater to take charge having been associate head coach at Penn under Mike McLaughlin, who was her coach at the school in Northeast Philadelphia.

Only two regular season games became forfeits due to a team’s lack of enough players at either the 6:30 p.m. or 7:45 p.m. tip times on the twice-weekly two doubleheaders both nights, but neither contest impacted eventual seeding for the playoffs.

To get you ready, Bob’s game detail on the previous Sky Blue vs. Pink meeting will follow, then the two rosters, then the running season log on results.

With the weather cooled down and you may want to attend, admission is free, and there is a snack bar, though if it does not open for just one game, there are several restaurants nearby for postgame dining.

The address is 2950 Turnpike Drive, near the intersection of Davisville and Byberry Roads.

Tuesday’s Championship Regular Season Meeting

Sky blue 67 Pink 51 – June 29

Team Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family) kept pace with league leading Black with a 67-51 win over Team Pink (alumni players) in the late game on court 1.

Sky joins Black as five-win teams, improving to 5-1 on the season and remaining a ½ game behind their regular season rival Black (Jefferson).

Pink drops to a fifth-place tie with Kelly Green at 2-3.

Ava Morrow led all scorers, pacing the Sky team with 20 points. Lindsay Tretter added 15 points while post player Carolyn Prevost added 11.

Prevost’s counterpart on Pink, Taylor Hamm (USciences ’22) led her team with 16 points while Lauren Crim (Chestnut Hill ’23) chipped in 11.

A back and forth first quarter saw Pink take an early lead 13-11 off Jen Kremp’s (USciences ’22) three-point basket before Sky regained control with a 6-0 run to close out the quarter, capped by a morrow bucket to make the score 17-13.

Cassie Sebold (Chestnut Hill ’22) and Hamm scored to open the second quarter to briefly tie the game at 17-17 before Sky took off on a 10-3 run to pull ahead by seven, 27-20 with morrow again closing out the run, this time with a traditional three-point play.

Pink came back and scored the final four points of the quarter to cut Sky’s lead to three 33-30 at halftime.

Pink closed within two, 41-39 midway through the third quarter.

Sky countered with eight straight points, four from Taylor Hinkle to produce the first double-digit lead of the game at 49-39.

Crim’s third three-ball of the game cut the lead to seven 49-42 with both teams adding a basket before the quarter ended with Sky leading 51-44.

Sky Blue held Pink to just two field goals in the fourth quarter as they opened up a double digit lead.

Tretter opened the final period with a three-point basket, triggering an 11-1 spurt to give Sky a 62-45 lead.

Hamm finally got Pink’s first field goal of the quarter but there was just 2:18 left in the period and the alumni group would get no closer as Sky maintained the solid advantage the rest of the way.

Rosters

TEAM SKY BLUE – HOLY FAMILY

4 EMMA INGERSOLL-WENG 5’5 IOWA CITY WEST/JEFFERSON ‘26

5 SKYLER SEARFOSS 5’6 JIM THORPE HS/HOLY FAMILY ‘26

10 TAYLOR HINKLE 5’11 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH /HOLY FAMILY ‘26

11 CAROLYN PREVOST 6’1 MONTGOMERY HS/HILY FAMILY ‘24

12 LINDSAY TRETTER 5’8 ARCHBISHOP WOOD/HOLY FAMILY ‘2

13 AVA MORROW 5’10 TWIN VALLEY HS/HOLY FAMILY ‘25

14 ANUJIN DASHDORJ 5’8 RICHARD MONTGOMERY HS/HOLY FAMILY ‘24

15 CLAIRE DOUGHERTY6’1 LAKE LEHMAN/HOLY FAMILY’26

20 DAKOTA SCHULTICE 5’8 TIMBER CREEK REGIONAL/HOLY FAMILY ‘24

21 JENNIFER KOKOLUS 5’10 FREEDOM HS/HOLY FAMILY ‘24

22 KARA MEREDITH 6’ ARCHBISHOP WOOD/HOLY FAMILY ‘27

23 JESSICA RIEPE 5’9 MARLBORO HS/HOLY FAMILY ‘25

TEAM PINK – DRAFT TEAM 2

4 SHANNON MAY 5’4 ARCHBISHOP WOOD/USCIENCES ‘22

5 IRISA YE 5’8 NORTH PENN/U SCIENCES ‘21

10 ERIN MORGAN 5’8 ARCHBISHOP WOOD/LaSALLE ‘22

11 LAUREN CRIM 5’5 LANSDALE CATHOLIC/CHESTNUT HILL ‘23

12 LEXIE EDWARDS 5’10 ARCHBISHOP WOOD & C.B. SOUTH/CABRINI ‘21

13 ABIGAIL SPRATT 5’7 C.B. WEST/CHESTNUT HILL ‘22

14 VANESSA AMSINGER 5’10 MONTCLAIR KIMBERLEY/COLORADO COLLEGE ‘21

15 JEN KREMP 5’9 JENKINTOWN/U SCIENCES ‘22

20 KATE CONNOLLY 6’1 DREXEL U. ‘23

21 CASSIE SEBOLD 5’5 ARCHBISHOP WOOD/CHESTNUT HILL ‘22

22 TAYLOR HAMM 6’ PERKIOMEN/U SCIENCES ‘22

Final Season Standings (Thru ., Tues., July 18)

Team W L Pct. GB PF PA

XS-Black 8 0 1.000 — 470 365

F-Sky Blue 7 1 .875 1 517 412

S-Purple 6 2 .750 2 594 474

Q-Red 5 3 .625 3 451 446

F-Pink 4 4 .500 4 409 455

Q-Kelly Green 3 5 .375 5 361 374

Q-Royal Blue 2 6 .250 6 413 496

Maroon 1 7 .125 7 367 429

Q-Sun 0 8 .000 8 351 421

X-Clinched top seed; Q-quarterfinalist; S-semifinalist; F-Finalist|

Players Scoring 20 or More Points

29-Cassie Murphy, Black, W, vs. Royal Blue, June 15

25-Leah Johnson, Purple, L, vs. Sky Blue, Sems, July 27

24-Alexa Abbonizio, Purple, W, vs. Kelly Green, July 18

23-Michelle Kozicki, Purple, W, vs. Maroon, June 15

22-Cassie Seybold, Pink, W, vs. Black, Sems, July 27

22-Anna McTamney, Purple, W, vs. Royal Blue, June 29

21-Taylor Hamm, Pink, W, vs. Maroon, July 18

20-Miranda Liebtag, Royal Blue, W, vs. Sun, July 18

20-Ava Morrow, Sky Blue, W, vs. Pink, June 29

20-Sam Yencha, Black, W, vs. Maroon, June 27

20-Bridie McCann, Red, W, vs. Royal Blue, June 27

20-Taylor Hamm, Pink, W, vs. Sun, June 27

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

Playoffs

Tuesday, August 1

Championship (7 p.m.) (Live Stream-Sports Fan Based Network)

Streaming Link – https://www.youtube.com/live/dIq0tkHFLC0?feature=share

Court 1: 2-Seed Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family) (7-1) vs. 5-Seed Pink (Draft Team-2) (4-4)

Thursday, July 27

Semifinals

5-Seed Pink (Draft Team-2) 71, 1-Pink (Jefferson) 60

2-Seed Sky Blue (Holy Family) 67, 3-Seed Purple (West Chester) 51

Tuesday, July 25^th

Quarterfinals

1-Seed/Black (Jefferson) 60, 9-Seed/Sun (Draft Team-3) 58

2-Seed Sky Blue (Holy Family) 79, 7-Seed/Royal Blue (Cabrini) 42

3-Seed/Purple (West Chester) 59, 6-Seed/Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 53

5-Seed/Pink (Draft Team-2) 63, 4-Seed/Red (Chestnut Hill) 52

Thursday, July 20

Play-In Round

9-Sun (Draft Team 3) 57, 8-Maroon (D3-Arcadia) 49 ||

Tuesday, July 18 (Regular Season Ends)

Royal Blue (D3-Cabrini) 56, Sun (Draft Team-3) 51

Black (D2-Jefferson) 72, Red (D2-Chestnut Hill 41

Purple (D2-West Chester) 67, Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 66

Pink (Draft Team-2) 72, Maroon (D3-Arcadia) 49

Bye: Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family) (7-1)

Thursday, July 13

Black (Jefferson) 58, Pink (Draft Team-2) 38

Sky Blue (Holy Family) 62, Red (Chestnut Hill) 43

Purple (West Chester) 79, Sun (Draft Team-3) 59

Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 2, Maroon (Arcadia) 0, forfeit

Tuesday, July 11

Red (Chestnut Hill) 51, Sun (Draft Team-3) 50

Pink (Draft Team-2) 40, Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 37

Black (Jefferson) 65, Purple (West Chester) 62

Sky Blue (Holy Family) 80, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 45

Bye: Maroon (Arcadia)

Tuesday, July 4/Thursday July 6

Dark (Holiday Week)

Thursday, June 29

Purple (West Chester) 84, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 55

Maroon (Arcadia) 58, Sun (Draft Team-3) 55

Black (Jefferson) 55, Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 43

Sky Blue (Holy Family) 67, Pink (Draft Team-2) 51

Bye: Red (4-1)

Tuesday, June 27

Sky Blue (Holy Family) 70, Purple (West Chester) 63

Black (Jefferson) 83, Maroon (Arcadia) 52

Pink (Draft Team-2) 59, Sun (Draft Team-3) 52

Red (Chestnut Hill) 61, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 47

Bye: Kelly Green (2-2)

Thursday, June 22

Black (Jefferson) 2, Sun (Draft Team-3) 0, forfeit

Red (Chestnut Hill) 67, Pink (Draft Team-2) 51

Royal Blue (Cabrini) 61, Maroon (Arcadia) 48

Sky Blue (Holy Family) 50, Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 41

Bye: Purple (3-0)

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)

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; FW – Forfeit Win; FL-Forfeit Loss

*Black (D2-Jeff) 8-0: W-SB (OT); W-RB; Bye; FW-SU; vs. W-MR; vs. W-KG; vs. W-PU; vs. W-PK; vs. W-RD

Sky Blue (D2-Holy Fam) 7-1: L-BK (OT); W-SU; W-MR; W-KG; vs. W-PU; vs. W-PK; vs. W-RB; vs. W-RD; Bye

Purple (D2-West Chester) 6-2: W-PK; W-MR; W-RD; Bye; vs. L-SB; vs. W-RB; vs. L-BK; vs. SU; vs. W-KG

Red (D2-Chestnut Hill) 5-3: W-MR; W-KG; L-PU; W-PK; vs. W-RB; Bye; vs. W-SU; vs. L-SB; vs. L-BK

Pink (Draft-2) 4-4: L-PU: Bye, W-RB; L-RD; vs. W-SU; L-SB; vs. W-KG; vs. L-BK; vs. W-MR

Kelly Green (Draft-1) 3-5: W-RB; L-RD; W-SU; L-SB; Bye; vs. L-BK; vs. L-PK; vs. FW-MR; vs. L-PU

Royal Blue (D3-Cabrini) 2-6: L-KG; L-BK; L-PK; W-MR; vs. L-RD; vs. L-PU; vs. L-SB; Bye; vs. W-SU

Maroon (D3-Arcadia) 1-7: L-RD; L-PU; L-SB; L-RB; vs. L-BK; vs. W-SU; Bye; vs. FL-KG; vs. L-PK

Sun (Draft-3) 0-8: Bye; L-SB; L-KG; FL-BK; vs. L-PK; vs. L-MR; vs. L-RD; vs. L-PU; vs. L-RB

*-Clinched Top Seed

Friday, July 28, 2023

Pink (Draft Team-2) Fourth-Quarter Surge Sinks Top-Seed and Unbeaten Black (D-2 Jefferson) While No. 2 Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family) Bounces No. 3 Purple (D2-West Chester) in Philly/Suburban Women’s Summer Semifinals

By Bob Heller and Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

HATBORO, Pa. — Paced by Chestnut Hill ’22 graduate Cassie Sebold, recent Chestnut Hill grad Lauren Crim, and recent Drexel grad Kate Connolly, fifth-seed Pink (Draft Team-2) rallied from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter and erupted on a 16-2 finish to stun top seed and previous unbeaten Team Black (D2-Jefferson) 71-60 Thursday night in the semifinals of the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.

A little later in the nightcap, Tuesday’s championship on Court 1 at 7 p.m. was set when 2-seed Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family) beat 3-seed Purple (D2-West Chester) 68-61 extending a win streak to nine straight after a narrow season-opening loss in overtime to Black, which rallied for that win.

Like last year, the game will be live streamed by Ari Bluestein’s Sports Fan Based Network (SFBN).

Here is the Youtube viewing link — https://www.youtube.com/live/dIq0tkHFLC0?feature=share

Purple (6-2), whose only losses occurred at the hands of the teams above them, fell despite the night’s top performance from Leah Johnson, who scored 25 points.

Pink, which went 4-4 during the eight-game schedule prior to the playoffs, losing to the four teams seeded above them, is one of three draft squads, those whose rosters don’t have of an abundance of players from the mostly same group of winter Division II and III teams as permitted by the NCAA.

Those squads are assembled prior to the start of play from registrants either signing individually or asked to play with certain other players and also include alums from D-I schools, such as recent Drexel grad Kate Connolly, who scored 12 points for Pink.

Sebold went a near-perfect 13-for-14 from the line down the stretch in the last two minutes and 14-for-15 in the contest. Crim had nine points, all off three 3-pointers.

During the season in their sole meeting, Sky Blue easily topped Pink 67-61 on June 29 before the league took a week off for the July 4^th holiday.

Two seasons ago a previous unbeaten Jefferson squad was upset in their quarterfinals by a USciences graduate alumni squad, which knocked the Rams out again last year in the championship, so considering the Pink roster this time though a lot different from the ‘22 group, it’s now three straight playoff losses to grad squad teams and technically Pink enters game as defending champs.

As it was, Black was nearly shot down in the quarterfinals by the Sun (Draft Team-3), escaping in the last minute by two points over a team that was winless, though some losses were narrow recently, before upsetting Maroon (D3-Arcadia) in last Thursday’s opening single-game 8-9 seed playoff round.

In Tuesday’s quarterfinals, Red (D2-Chestnut Hill) fell to Pink 63-52, starting the winners on the way to the title round with its first upset.

Back in 2019, Holy Family was a surprise winner in the title round against the undergrad squad from the former USciences school just before then new-coach Bernadette Laukaitis returned to her alma mater after serving as the associate head coach under Penn’s Mike McLaughlin, who coached her on the Tigers prior to his being hired by the Quakers.

The regular coaches do not guide their teams in the league but under the NCAA are permitted to view the squads during the summer.

Several seasons ago USciences went out of existence when the school merged with D-1 Saint Joseph’s and when Royal Blue fell to Sky Blue Tuesday that could have been the end of it for D3-Cabrini.

The school is closing shop next spring, the campus bought by Villanova, but upon hearing the recent news, a slew of the Cabrini squad entered the transfer portal leaving in doubt whether enough will return to compete one more season.

Incidentally, working one of the games Thursday as an official was Temple grad Stacey Smalls, who was one of former coach Dawn Staley’s original star guards when she was hired by the Owls in the spring of 2000.

Here’s Bob with the details of both semifinals followed by his earlier season account of the matchup between Sky Blue and Pink.

Semifinals Recaps

5 Pink 71 #1 Black 60

Cassie Sebold connected on 13 of 14 free throws in the final two minutes as #5 Team Pink (alumni players) rallied from an eight-point fourth quarter deficit to upset top seed and undefeated Team Black (D2-Jefferson University) 71-60 in the first semi-final game Thursday night.

Pink advances to the league championship game next Tuesday night to face #2 seed Sky Blue (D2-Holy family University) who won the second semi-final over Purple 68-61.

Sebold (Chestnut Hill College ’22) led all scorers with 22 points. Kate Connolly (Drexel ’22) added 12 points while Taylor Hamm (USciences ’22) and Jen Kremp (USciences ’22) had 11 points apiece.

Morgan Robinson led Black with 12 points while Haley Meinel chipped in 11.

Black led by six heading into the final quarter and opened the final stanza with a basket from Emma Kuczynski to lead by eight 46-38.

Pink then exploded with a 16-2 uprising to take their first lead since the start of the second quarter 54-48.

Four Pink three-point baskets keyed the rally with Connolly starting the run with a three-ball.

Lauren Crim (Chestnut Hill ’23) had two three-point baskets and Kremp added one as well.

Crim’s first three pointer of the quarter tied the game at 48-48 and her second gave Pink a six-point lead and capped the run.

Jordan Thomas broke the run with a basket at the 4:13 mark to bring Black within four 54-50 before Connelly scored the next four points to extend Pink’s lead to 58-50.

Following a Robinson basket, Black needed to foul as there was under two minutes left in the game.

Black put Sebold on the line seven straight times over the final 1:48 and the Chestnut Hill alum made them pay, connecting on 13 of 14 shots.

On defense, Connolly delivered a key block with just under a minute left and Sebold came up with a big steal with 37 seconds left leading to her final two free throws, completing an 8-2 final run, giving the underdog Pink squad an 11-point win.

The 33 points scored by Pink in the quarter was the most productive quarter in any of this year’s summer league games (both regular season and playoffs).

In the first quarter of the game, Black held an early lead before Pink rallied to tie the score late and Abbey Spratt (Chestnut Hill ’22) scored at the buzzer to give Pink a 15-13 lead.

Robinson scored the first four points of the second quarter as her team quickly retook the lead.

Pink kept things close, never trailing by more than six points and cut the lead to two, 29-27, following Sebold’s buzzer beating three-point basket from way beyond the three-point arc.

Pink trailed by just two the half, with Black opening up their biggest lead at nine points, 44-35 late in the quarter before Connolly converted a traditional three-point play to cut Black’s lead to six before Pink began their comeback run in the fourth quarter.

#2 Sky Blue 68 #3 Purple 61

Team Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family University) built a big lead early in the third quarter and held off a furious comeback by Team Purple (D2-West Chester University) to earn a 68-61 win and advance to next Tuesday’s Championship game.

Sky Blue will face #5 seed Pink who upset top seed Black 71-60 in the first semi final game earlier on Thursday.

Leah Johnson nearly single-handedly led Purple’s comeback with 25 points, 20 of which were scored in the final 15 minutes of action. Rachel Conran added 11 to supplement Johnson’s efforts. Sky blue placed three players in double figures and had ten members of their team score points. Carolyn Prevost and Claire Dougherty led their team with 12 points apiece while Skyler Searfoss added ten.

Sky blue opened up a double digit lead in the second quarter and used a 12-1 run in the first six minutes of the third quarter to take a 56-31 lead prompting a Purple timeout to regroup. Johnson then put the team on her shoulders, scoring 11 of the team’s next 15 points as they outscored Sky blue 15-1 over the final four minutes to close within 11 57-46 heading into the final quarter.

Johnson opened the fourth quarter with a two-point basket and then a three-pointer to pull her team within six 57-51. A traditional three-point play from Prevost and a basket from Ava Morrow brough the Sky Blue lead back to 11 64-53 with 5:42 left. Sky blue was still ending by 11 with just under three minutes left when Purple ran off six straight points to pull within five 66-61 with 49 seconds left. Sky Blue connected on two of four free throws in the final 33 seconds to seal the win.

Sky Blue held the lead for all but the first minute of the game as Conran gave Purple a 2-0 start.

Jessica Riepe scored Sky Blue’s first eight points to give her team the early lead. Purple drew within one 12-11 before Sky closed out the quarter with an 11-3 burst to lead 23-14.

Searfoss opened the second quarter with a layup to give her team their first double digit lead of the night and extended the margin to as many as 16 at 30-14.

Purple battled back to close within eight 38-30 following a Conran basket before Sky Blue closed out the quarter with six straight points to lead 44-30 at halftime.

Tuesday’s Championship Regular Season Meeting

Sky blue 67 Pink 51