women's Basketball

Lady Falcons Set to Return to USCAA National Championship

Fresh off their first ever Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) Championship, the Davis College Lady Falcons set their sights on a United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championship that begins on March 3.

This will be the Falcons second straight appearance in the USCAA Championship. Last year, they would lose in the opening round to the eventual National Champion Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte. The experience gained from that opportunity has driven the Falcons this season to make a return to the tournament. Boasting an overall record of 19-4 this season and winning 10 of their last 11 games, the Falcons earned a 7 seed and square off with the 10 seed University of Maine-Machias (17-10) at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. The winner of that game will take on the number 2 seed Central Maine CC who owns a 25-2 overall record and a current 13 game win streak. That game will be on Monday, March 4, at 2:00 p.m.

“Going into the tournament, we are not approaching it like we have to win 4 games in 4 days for a championship, or 3 games to get to the finals. We are preparing for Sunday’s game, after that we will prepare of Monday’s game, etc.,” said head coach Larry Ellis, who’s coaching staff won the 2019 HVIAC Coaching Staff of the Year award.

The Falcons are led by freshmen and HVIAC Player of the Year Elizabeth Singleton (Schenectady, NY). She paced the Falcons with 23.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6 assists per game and dominated the HVIAC Championship game with 35 points and 8 rebounds. She is joined by fellow playmaker Michaela McLeod (West Milford, NJ) who averages 11 points, a team-high 9.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. Defensive specialist Braedyn Mims (Calvert County, MD) led the country with 3.1 blocks per game and adds 8.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. The Falcons start two sharpshooters on the wings in freshmen Alison Aten (Streetsboro, OH) and Candace Winkel (Ocean City, NJ). Aten poured in 71 threes on the season which is good for 5th in the country and averages 13.4 points and 7.1 rebounds while Winkel made 60 threes and averaged 12.9 points per game. Senior Elizabeth Bath (Ballston Spa, NY) provides another shooter off the bench as she shoots 37.5% from three while averaging 6.5 points per game.

In all, 10 teams were invited to play for the championship which will conclude on Wednesday March 6. The tournament is hosted at Penn State Fayette in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and the action can be followed live on the USCAA Championship website.

Photo Credit: Jeff Miller – DNJ Sports Photography