Lady Knights Sink Seawolves 73-54!

01.07.19

Warwick, R.I. – January 7, 2019: The CCRI Lady Knights basketball team hosted the 10-1 Seawolves of Southern Maine Community College from Portland, ME on Saturday at the Cullen Fieldhouse in Warwick. The Lady Knights handed the Seawolves their second loss of the season with an impressive 73-54 victory. With the win CCRI improves to 5-9 on the season.

The Lady Knights and Seawolves have had some epic battles over the past few years including last year when the two teams split each winning in their home court. CCRI was hoping the home court advantage would play in their favor and it did. The Lady Knights snatched a quick lead on the Seawolves in the first quarter and took a 20-13 lead into the first quarter break. CCRI was led by two of their Co-Captains I the first with Kat Raposo (Warwick, RI) scoring eight first quarter points and Jada Littlejohn (Providence, RI) added seven points to combat the seven points scored by the Seawolves' Amanda Brett.

In the second quarter the two teams traded baskets with Amanda Brett continuing to lead the way for SMCC scoring another seven points. However the Lady Knights answered with a balanced attack getting six points on two 3-pointers from Olivia Batastini-Pallister (Providence, RI) with four apiece from Littlejohn and Raposo. CCRI outscored the Seawolves 18-17 in the second quarter to take a 38-30 lead into halftime.

Both teams battled closely again in the third quarter with Amanda Brett having her best quarter for SMCC scoring nine of the Seawolves' 19 3rd quarter points. CCRI answered with Jada Littlejohn who matched Brett with nine points while getting n five from Olivia Batastini-Pallister. SMCC had the slight scoring edge in the 3rd with 19 points while CCRI had 18 to bring the score to 56-49 CCRI with one quarter remaining.

In the fourth quarter CCRI played tremendous pressure defense to hold Southern Maine to just five points while Co-Captain Kat Raposo erupted for 13 points to allow the Lady Knights to cruise to the 73-54 victory handing the Seawolves their second loss of the season.

Leading the way for the Lady Knights was Co-Captain Kat Raposo with a team-high 26 points on 10-16 shooting from the field with three steals and a blocked shot. Co-Captain Jada Littlejohn charted her 8th Double-double of the year scoring 20 points with 11 rebounds. Littlejohn is averaging a Double-double for the season averaging 10.6 rebounds ranking her No. 34 by the NJCAA (DII) and 18.5 points per game ranking her No. 36 by the NJCAA. Also having a very good game was Olivia Batastini-Pallister with 16 points including four 3-pointers with eight assists and two steals. Co-Captain Tatyana Correia (Cranston, RI) had six points with 11 rebounds and an assist while Co-Captain Waleska Kelly (Pawtucket, RI) had an excellent all-around game scoring five points with five assists, five steals and six blocked shots. Kelly is ranked No. 6 in total blocks and No. 8 in blocks per game with 3.0 by the NJCAA. In addition, freshman Faith Fahnbulleh (Providence, RI) played a key role though she did not score she played tremendous defense and was a presence on the glass recording with eight rebounds. SMCC's Amanda Brett led all scorers with a game-high 28 points.

The next game for the Lady Knights will be this Sunday when the will host the Lions of Nassau Community College form Garden City, NY for a game at 4:00pm as part of the CCRI Invitational.

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The Community College of Rhode Island, New England's largest comprehensive community college, enrolls nearly 15,000 students in credit courses and thousands more in non-credit and job training classes. Its athletic program boasts 12 varsity programs and an academic support program for all student-athletes.