Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks

ROCHESTER, N.Y – Balanced scoring and tenacious defense are often a recipe for success in basketball.
The Roberts Wesleyan College women's basketball team placed four scorers in double figures and limited D'Youville to 35.1 percent shooting from the field while pulling away for a 75-66 victory in an East Coast Conference game Sunday afternoon at the Voller Athletic Center.
Sophomore guards Danielle DiCintio and Georgia Haverlock each scored 16 points to pace the Redhawks (4-4, 1-1 ECC). Senior Dimitra Gkizani contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds and Nyah Johnson scored 12 points and sparked a key second-quarter spurt for Roberts.
D'Youville jumped to a 20-11 advantage after the first quarter but Roberts responded by outscoring the Saints 23-12 in the second.
"That last four minutes of the second quarter is the way that we want to play all of the time," Roberts coach Kevin Clifford said.
Roberts closed the half by outscoring D'Youville 10-1 in the final 2:09. Emily Palmer started the run with a layup in transition, Johnson added six points in a 77-second span and junior Ashlynn McKnight gave the Redhawks their first lead with a steal and layup with seven seconds remaining in the second.
"Nyah and Ashlynn really stepped up their games today," DiCintio said. "They brought us a lot of momentum heading into the locker room."
Roberts outscored D'Youville 24-22 in the third quarter as McKnight and Toni Neely-Primus (9 points, 9 rebounds) scored five points apiece.
The Redhawks outscored the Saints 17-11 in the fourth quarter. DiCintio (seven points) and Haverlock (six points) were able to create and finish off the dribble on several occasions.
"My mentality is to pass first," DiCintio said. "But today I was able to beat my defender and get to the basket."
"We were mostly just taking what the defense was giving us," Haverlock added.
Roberts' defense didn't give the Saints much. The Redhawks rotated five different players on D'Youville's Sara Pfeiffer and limited the ECC's leading scorer to 18 points, about four below her average.
Roberts also outrebounded D'Youville 52-39 and outscored D'Youville 42-30 in the paint. Haverlock contributed nine rebounds and Palmer and Grace Dow each added eight.
"I thought that we got some stops down the stretch that allowed us to open things up a little bit," Clifford said.
Roberts was also able to win without senior guard Taryn Wilson (12.3 points per game), who is out with an injury. Wilson's absence offered opportunities for others to play key moments and contribute.
"That was really important for us, especially with Taryn out," Haverlock said. "People have to step up. Just because you are not in the starting lineup does not mean you don't have an important role on this team."
Roberts returns to action for an ECC game at Mercy at 5 p.m. on Friday.