The No. 7 Drew University Rangers' season came to a close Saturday night in a 64-54 loss to the No. 6 NYU Violets.  Junior Jess Reid paced the Rangers with 12 points as they finished 15-12 on the year.  For the Violets, Bianca Storts scored 16 as they advanced to the ECAC Metro Tournament final where they will face top-seeded Steven's.

The Violets got up on the Rangers early with a 7-0 run to start the game.   Freshman Brenda Kramer got the ball moving for the Rangers with a 3-pointer 4:57 into the half.  The Violets continued to dominate the first and stretched their lead to 18-5 after a Storts jump-shot fell in.  Facing a rapidly growing decifit, the Rangers came together to put some points on the board.  Sophomores Victoria Ault and Danielle Barber hit back to back shots but Storts struck again this time with a 3-pointer that put the Violets up by eleven.

Sophomore Kat Luby answered for the Rangers with a three and followed with lay-in for two once she got the ball back.  The Rangers would get within five after freshman Jana Jagodzinski picked up a Jen Hum-Traverso turnover and converted for two.  Storts was there again for the Violets with a clutch three to put their lead back up to eight, 31-23. 

NYU took a 37-26 lead into halftime, after getting 28 of their points off the bench. 

The Violets continued to run the floor in the second half, but the Rangers took advantage of missed shots and cut the lead to four, with a Reid lay-up, 13:33 remaining in the game.  Storts drained her second three-pointer of the night to put the Violets back up by nine just before the 10:00 mark.  Barber answered for the Rangers after a time-out, and then took advantage of another Violet turnover to bring the lead down to five, 47-42.  Grace Carmen came up big with a lay-in that put the Violets back in the driver-seats with a comfortable 49-42 advantage.

The Violets teased the Rangers again, allowing them within six after a Barber drive but dominated the final five minutes to pick up the victory and a ticket to the tournament's final which will be played Sunday night at 7:00pm.  Grace finished with 14 and shot 8-10 from the free-throw line for the Violets whose record improved to 15-12.

After allowing 18 points in the paint in the first half, the Ranger defense held the Violets to just eight in the second.  The Rangers took advantage of NYU mistakes and scored 20 points off turnovers but shot a dismal 22.2% from the field in the second half.  Barber played a full 40:00 and finished with 10 points, six assists for the Rangers.  Rookie Eden Blazovic scored 11 and recorded four blocks.  Senior Jessica Del Vecchio scored two points and pulled down three boards in her final game as a Ranger. 

The Rangers hope to pick up where they left off with another winning campaign beginning in November 2010.