Mahwah, NJ:  The Ramapo College women's basketball team would improve to 2-0 overall tonight as they defeated the Bloodhounds of John Jay, 70-44 in the opening round of the 2016-2017 Roadrunner Tip-Off Tournament.  With the win Ramapo advances to play the College of St. Elizabeth for the trophy tomorrow at 2pm.  John Jay falls to 0-2 to start the season.
 
The Roadrunners were led by Kellie Lane with 17 points and Shelby Ringer collected 14 as the team went 28-60 (47%).  Jina Crawford and Bintou Berete each pulled down six rebounds and Ringer grabbed four steals in the win.  Lane and Bridgette Buckalew dished out four assists each.
 
After a 2-2 tie to start the game, the Roadrunners dominated play jumping out to a 19-2 lead, a 17-0 run capped off with a jumper from Crawford, before John Jay got on the board with a free throw from Shaliyah Ruiz.  The Roadrunners would work to a 24-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter.  John Jay would start the second quarter with a 7-3 run to close the gap, 13-27.  The run was capped off with the back end of a two-shot foul from Claire Prince.  The Roadrunners would climb back to an 18-point advantage at the halftime buzzer with a final shot coming from Crawford to go ahead, 35-17. Lane led the Roadrunners in the first half with 11 points and Ringer collected nine points as the team went 14-28 (50%).  Cassandra Taylor netted six points to lead John Jay in the half.  The Bloodhounds hit just five field goals hitting 5-23 (22%).
 
Lane nailed down a three-point goal to start the third quarter and spark a 10-0 Ramapo run, capped off with a layup from Ringer to go ahead, 45-17.  The Bloodhounds responded with a 7-2 run to close the gap, 24-47 but an and-one play from Bridgette Buckalew with 2:42 to go in the quarter would put the Roadrunners ahead, 53-24.  Samantha Rinaldi hit a three at the end of the third quarter, a buzzer beater dished from Jenna Harsh, to go up, 56-26.  Ramapo would continued to control the flow of the game working to a 68-39 lead with just over a minute to go in the game with a jump shot from Harsh.  At the buzzer the game would be in Ramapo's favor, 70-44.  Lane and Rinaldi finished with six points each in the half as the team went 14-32 (47%).  John Jay's Taylor led the team with ten points and the team hit 10-29 (29%).
 
John Jay was led by Taylor with 16 points and Ruiz with ten as the team hit 15-52 (29%) from the field.  Taylor also led in rebounds with seven in the loss.
 
In the first game of the night the College of St. Elizabeth fought from a five-point half time deficit to earn their first victory of the 2016-2017 season over the St. Joseph-Brooklyn Bears, 77-56.  SJCBK drops their second match-up to start the season at 0-2. 
 
St. Elizabeth was led by Jasmine Poole who collected 26 points, eight rebounds and eight steals.  The team shot a combined 23-66 (35%) in their first win (1-0) of the season.  Danesha Triplett netted 19 points and Rakiyah Sellers chipped in 13. 
 
The lead changed four times and the score was tied four times as the Bears jumped out to a 36-31 lead after the first two quarters of play.  The Bears were led by Destiny Marino with 13 points as she hit 5-8 from the field and a perfect 2-2 from the charity stripe.  Victoria Porcasi collected six points and Porcasi and Caitlyn Staab each pulled down a team-high four rebounds.  The Bears shot 15-33 (46%) as a team, outshooting the Eagles of the College of St. Elizabeth who went 12-35 (34%). Poole collected a team leading 13 points in the half and Triplett netted nine points of her own.  Poole collected four steals. 
 
In the opening five plus minutes of the third quarter, the Eagles took control of the game out scoring the Bears, 15-5 to take a 46-41 lead capped with two free throws from Sellers.  The Eagles would hold onto their advantage at the buzzer holding a five-point, 50-45 lead over the Bears.  In the fourth, the Eagles would continue to add to spread the gap eventually taking the game, 77-56.  Poole and Sellers each added 13 points in the half as the team went 17-34 (42%).  The Bears were held to just eight field goals in the second half shooting 8-33 (35%).  Porcasi and Catherine Drago each collected six points for the Bears.
 
Marino led the Bears with 16 points and Porcasi added 12 in the loss as the team went 23-66 (35%).  Samantha Simon and Kristen Candelaria each pulled down seven rebounds on the night.
 
Tomorrow's match-up will include, St. Joseph's Brooklyn at noon against John Jay in the consolation match-up, followed by the College of St. Elizabeth against Ramapo College at 2pm in the championship game.