Rockford, Ill. — The UConn Avery Point women's basketball team came up short in its bid to win the NJCAA Division III championship, losing to No. 2 Hostos Community College of New York 83-79 in the semifinals on Friday night. 

The third-seeded Pointers (24-7) will play Northland (Wis.) in the third-place game at 7 p.m. on Saturday night.

Hostos scored the final 11 points of the game. The Pointers led 79-72 with 2:12 left.

Taty LaFrance Boyce, the former Stonington star, had 30 points, five steals and six rebounds for the Pointers. Mia Brennan of Waterford had 17 points, Meagan Bianchi scored 14 and Taleeha Green had seven rebounds.

Avery Point opened play on Thursday with a 98-93 win over No. 6 Rochester (Minn.).

Against Rochester, the game was tied 44-44 at halftime, with Avery Point outscoring Rochester 27-18 in the second quarter, and 74-74 after three quarters.

Brennan scored 20 points, Green had 19 points and Bianchi had 17 points and nine assists for the Pointers.

Playing in the nationals for the first time since 2009, Avery Point earned its trip with a 74-69 victory March 4 over defending champion Roxbury (Mass.) Community College for the Region 21 title. LaFrance Boyce, a 2016 Stonington High School graduate, led the Pointers with 30 points in that game and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

— Day staff reports