Box Score 2/24/22
 
CRANFORD, NJ – The Lackawanna College Women's Basketball team fought hard, but ultimately fell at the top-seed Union County College Owls, 73-61, in the Region XIX DII Women's Basketball Tournament Semi-Final on Thursday evening. The Falcons, after falling behind early, had things within five at the break, but Union got a double-digit lead and managed to keep Lackawanna College at arm's length the rest of the way.
 
After an initial spurt had Union up, the Falcons (10-12) managed to claw back into the game, thanks in part to nine second quarter points from Nya Morris, and five points off the bench in the quarter for Cianna Roberts. That brought the game to a 35-30 lead for the Owls (21-3) at halftime. Union held Morris to just four points in the second half, as they steadily built an eleven-point lead, and held on from there.
 
Morris led the way with 18 points for the Falcons, while Ashante Amos added eleven points, all coming in the second half. Brianna Mills led the Owls with 19 points, while Tiyanni McClary came off the bench to score 13 points, and Rissel Rodriguez added ten points.
 
The Owls wasted little time scoring, with Rodriguez winning the tap and scoring off a feed from Mills to make it 2-0, Owls. A McKeyah Duley jumper from mid-range would knot it up for the Falcons, but a Mills three-pointer would start a 7-0 run to give the Owls a 9-2 advantage just over two minutes into the game. Despite the early deficit, the Falcons would defend fiercely, and broke their three-minute scoreless streak with a corner three from Morris. A few minutes later, after a Union turnover, McKeyah Duley would hit a three from straight on to tie things up at 10 with 4:35 to play in the first.
 
With Union up 18-14 after one quarter, the Owls began to flex on the inside, with McClary scoring off the bench immediately with an offensive rebound, which she turned into a bucket through contact, plus the free throw. Two straight turnovers for the Falcons were turned into breakaway lay-ups, the second another offensive rebound and put-back from McClary to make it 25-14 with 8:40 to go, and forcing the Falcons to call timeout.
 
Out of the stoppage, Lackawanna went back to work on offense, getting a long two-point jumper from Cianna Roberts to put them on the board in the second quarter. The next trip down, a Morris three-pointer brought the Falcons within six at 25-19. Union would extend the lead back out to ten at 31-21, but another Roberts jumper, this time a three, brought the Falcons back within seven points. A Falcon steal led to a Nya Morris bucket on the other end of the floor, bringing it back to a five-point deficit at the midway point of the second.
 
Union would hit a three-pointer, courtesy of Mills, but that would be their last made shot for the rest of the half, only scoring a free throw the rest of the way. Lackawanna College swarmed passing lanes on defense, deflecting entry passes and knocking the ball away in transition to force turnovers, but the Falcons couldn't seem to get their shots to go down, getting open looks, but not quite capitalizing. A Morris lay-up in transition, followed by a Gabrielle Jackson runner with about 30 seconds to play, would be the only points Lackawanna could score, but it sent them into the half trailing by just five points at 35-30.
 
Pinpoint interior passing helped Union start the scoring in the third, beating the Falcon press down the floor. Morris would answer with a bucket of her own, but the Owls broke the press with ease again, this time with Rodriguez finishing underneath to make it 39-32 with 7:30 to play in the third. Later, some sloppy play had both teams scrambling, but a rushed shot on one end for the Falcons resulted in a fast-break opportunity for Union on the other, making it 43-34 with 5:30 to go in the quarter.
 
Lackawanna fought back to get it within five at 45-40 with just over two minutes to play in the third, but Saja Alston canned a three from the right wing to give the Owls a boost, as Union would hit another three to end the quarter and take a 51-40 lead into the final frame.
 
Union rocketed out of the blocks in the fourth quarter, using a 7-0 to lengthen the lead to a game-high 58-40. The Falcons kept fighting, getting it as close as 12 points at 65-53 with just over four minutes to play, thanks to back-to-back buckets from Thays Torres, and then even closer at eleven points after an Amos three-pointer in the left corner, making it 67-56.
 
The Owls kept finding buckets, however, and the Falcons just couldn't get the ball to go down when they needed it. An Amos three with 36 seconds left cut it to ten, but that was as close as Lackawanna College could get, as Nia Mallette hit a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to close out the scoring and give the Owls the victory.
 
Union County College advances to the Region XIX Championship game, where it will face the third-seeded Harcum Lady Bears, a winner on the road at Essex County College. That game will be at Union County College on Saturday, February 26^th.
 
The Falcons end their season at 10-12 overall on the year.