NEW PALTZ – — Mount St. Mary outscored SUNY New Paltz 51-29 in the second half to defeat the Hawks 81-61 in the championship game of the Hudson Valley Tip Off Tournament this afternoon at New Paltz.
Trailing 32-30 at the half, the Blue Knights (2-0) used a 19-8 run in the first 7:36 of the second half to build a 49-40 advantage at the 12:24 mark. Sophomore guard Marcy DeSio (Staten Island, NY) led Mount St. Mary with 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from three point range. DeSio scored 24 of her points in the second half to earn the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award. The Hawks narrowed the Blue Knights margin to 56-50 on a basket by freshman guard Colleen Kelly (Hyde Park, NY) with 7:53 remaining but were unable to pull any closer. SUNY New Paltz (1-1) scored the last six points of the first half to take a two-point lead at the intermission. The Hawks received a career-high 24 points from sophomore point guard Kim Weigel (Whitestone, NY) who was named to the all-tournament team. Weigel also collected four rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Hawks.
Mount Saint Mary received a strong effort from sophomore forward Nneka Cruse (Highland Falls, NY) who had 15 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks and was named to the all-tournament team.
In the consolation game, City College of New York defeated New York City Tech 77-42. Sophomore forward Kim Neos (Queens, NY) scored 21 points to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. CCNY is now 1-1 while New York City Tech dropped to 0-2.
Hudson Valley Tip Off Tournament Most Valuable Player – Marcy DeSio (Mount St. Mary) All-Tournament Team – Nneka Cruse (Mount St. Mary), Kim Weigel (New Paltz), Silver Williams (New Paltz), Kim Neos (CCNY).
