CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, January 5, 2019
The Hudson Valley women's basketball team (10-3) kicked off the first day of the NHTI Tournament with a 90-80 win over host NHTI on Saturday afternoon in Concord, N.H.
The Vikings finished the game with five individuals with double-digit scoring as Caitlin Estes (Scotia/Scotia-Glenville) led the charge with 20 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Hannah Kreiger (Brunswick/Tamarac) finished with 18 points in a game-high 36 minutes of action and added eight rebounds.
The No. 10 ranked Vikings had trouble finding the basket in the opening half of their first game back following the winter recess. Hudson Valley trailed NHTI 57-41 heading into the break following a successful last second three-point heave by NHTI at the buzzer.
In the third quarter, the Vikings utilized a 10-0 run to pull back within seven points with nearly three minutes remaining. Hudson Valley continued to picked up its defensive intensity and outscored NHTI 22-9 in the quarter and entered the fourth quarter trailing 66-63. Kreiger and Taylor Engster (Troy/Catholic Central) combined for 16 of the team's 22 points in the quarter. Engster recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Hudson Valley fought its way back in the fourth quarter and took the lead with less than two minutes remaining. Leading 82-80, Kreiger found Madison Graber (Schenectady/Schalmont) cutting to the rim for the score and the foul and ultimately putting the game out of reach and helped the Vikings secure their 11thwin of the season. Hayley Jones (Catskill/Catskill) and Graber each scored 11 points in the win.
The Vikings are back in action tomorrow, January 6 as they take on U-Maine Augusta in the second day of the NHTI Tournament in Concord, N.H. The tip is scheduled for 10 a.m.