Steph Perez, McDaniel
SALISBURY, Md. – Stockton put together a 14-4 run early in the second half to top McDaniel 68-49 in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament hosted by Salisbury on Friday.
Steph Perez (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) led the Green Terror (24-4) with 14 points to finish her career with 1,290 to rank ninth on the program's all-time scoring list.
Sara Farrell netted 16 points to lead the Ospreys (22-6), who advance to Saturday's second round and will face the winner of the night's second first-round game between Salisbury and Bridgewater State.
Baskets from Sasha Williams and Sara Farrell stretched the one-point halftime edge to 36-31 just 1:46 into the second half.
Eight straight points from Stockton stretched the lead to 44-35 before an Alyssa March (Fallston, Md./Fallston) putback snapped a 4-minute, 11-second scoring drought for McDaniel.
Two Williams free throws gave the Ospreys a double-digit lead once again at 50-39 with 9:26 to play.
Alex Nardoza connected on a layup on the break to stretch the lead to 58-46 with 4:27 remaining before a single Jazmin Palma free throw pushed the advantage to 13 just 17 seconds later.
Stockton extended the lead as large as 15 on a Lauren Alwan putback with 2:31 to play, sealing the victory.
Stockton jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the game's first minute on layups by Williams and Nardoza.
The Ospreys stretched the lead to 9-0 before Perez hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to get McDaniel on the board with 15:52 to play in the first half.
Lindsey Nichols' (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) second 3-pointer of the game trimmed the deficit to 13-9 with 14:20 showing.
A Farrell trey with 13:59 showing sparked a 9-0 run that stretched the lead to double digits for the first time just 65 seconds later.
The run stretched to 13 straight points before Zeps connected on a three-point play to trim the margin to 24-12 with 9:54 on the first-half clock.
Two Williams free throws snapped a 2-minute, 20-second drought for Stockton to push the lead to 26-14 before Jasmine Smith (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) hit a jumper to once again make a 10-point game.
Back-to-back Emma Wingerd (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) baskets trimmed the deficit to six before Perez drained a 3-pointer with 3:45 showing.
Another Perez triple with 1:52 on the clock evened the game at 28-all before her fourth of the first half gave the Green Terror its first lead with 1:16 showing.
A Williams baseline jumper with 58 ticks remaining halted a 21-4 McDaniel run and snapped a 9-minute, 32-second drought without a field goal.
An Alwan jumper put the Ospreys back in front by one at the break.
Nichols finished with 11 points while Wingerd added six points and nine rebounds. March chipped in seven points and six rebounds.