Women's Basketball erases 17-point deficit in win

CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, (518) 629-7898 or (518) 416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Tuesday, February 20, 2024

The Hudson Valley Community College women's basketball program celebrated senior night, honoring Josephine O'Hare and Sidney Phillips before the start of their non-regional matchup with Dutchess on Tuesday evening at the McDonough Sports Complex on the campus of HVCC.

The women's team successfully overcame a 17-point deficit behind Leah Pergola's game-high 30 points and 18 rebounds. Abigayle Yetto shot 9-of-12 from the free throw line and finished the game with 17 points and six assists.

In the first half of the game, the Vikings struggled to shoot from behind the three-point arc as they finished the first half shooting 1-of-17 from deep. As a team, Hudson Valley shot 17 percent from the floor and trailed Dutchess 32-15 at the halftime break. Leading the way for the Vikings was Pergola and Yetto, who each scored five points during that span.

In the second half, the Vikings found their rhythm on the offensive side of the ball as they came out of the break to win the third quarter 24-20 and trailed 52-39 as the game entered the fourth quarter. In the final 10-minutes of the game, the Vikings jumped out to a 13-4 start and pulled within four points of Dutchess with five minutes remaining in the game.

During the final five minutes, Hudson Valley put on the full court press, forcing consecutive turnovers on Dutchess and Adria Castracane connected on a clutch three-point field goal to tie the game at 58-58 with 3:34 remaining.

Coming out of a timeout, the Falcons' Alexis Ochoa-Pena hit a contested corner three to regain the lead with 3:27 remaining. Abbigail Newell responded with a corner jumper and the Vikings went back up 62-61 as the game clock inched closer to zero. Yetto added another point at the free throw line to push HVCC's lead up to 63-61.

Pergola drilled a contested three-point field goal with 1:13 remaining and the Vikings extended its lead to 68-63 over the Falcons. Pergola later scored another quick layup from a Dutchess turnover with 25 seconds remaining and the Vikings secured the comeback victory.

The NJCAA Region3 women's basketball seeds will be released on Thursday, February 22, but it appears the Vikings will claim the No. 6 seed. Depending on the number of seeds, the Vikings are poised to play the No. 3 seed on Friday, February 29^th at Jefferson Community College in Watertown, NY, the host of the 2024 Region 3 Women's Basketball Championships.