The College of Staten Island women’s basketball team did their best to overcome what was at one time a 32-point advantage, making a respectable of what was a 64-49 loss at the hands of the Stevens Institute of Technology in a non-conference game held earlier this evening at the CSI Sports and Recreation Center.  The win lifted the visiting Ducks to a 5-1 overall record this season, while the Dolphins have dropped to 0-5, equaling their slowest start in program history in 1993-94.
The visitors never trailed in the contest, racing out to a 10-5 early lead on a pair of opening three’s by Dawn Garcia and Victoria Webber.  After a pair of Jaclyn Tocco freebies for CSI to make it 10-8, Stevens countered with a 10-0 run to expand to double-digits, putting them on the way to the lopsided defeat.  The win was accentuated by a huge effort in the first half on the glass, as Stevens raced to a 34-7 edge at intermission in the rebounding war, collecting 17 offensive rebounds, next to just two CSI defensive boards.
CSI registered only a single field goal in the final 11:23 of the first half, as the Ducks used a 20-2 run to close the half up, 40-14.  Five straight points by Stevens’ Molly Spadero opened the second frame, and after an Allie Shanahan lay-in for CSI, another three-ball by Webber gave the Ducks their biggest lead of the game at 48-16, with 16:00 minutes to play.
To the Dolphins’ credit, the team never gave in.  Consecutive treys by Shanahan and Olivia Tierno got CSI going offensively, and later, a 12-3 CSI run, spearheaded by a pair of Rachel Rosado steals and conversion baskets by Tierno cut the lead to 58-31.  Still, the Dolphins attacked, and the home squad closed with a very respectable 19-6 run to end the game losers of only 15 points, as both teams went as deep as they could into their bench.
Stevens got a very balanced effort led by Webber’s 21 points and 10 rebounds.  Spadaro dumped in 11 points and five rebounds, while Jillian Barrett registered 10 points and eight rebounds.  Stevens spread out 20 assists in the win and were the owners of a huge, 49-21, advantage on the boards.  CSI got a very gritty performance from Tierno, who topped out at 20 points to go with three steals.  Freshman Tocco finished with 10 points, while fellow frosh Rosado ended her evening with four points, five assists and four steals in 21 minutes off of the bench.
CSI’s next game will be this Saturday, December 11.  The team will travel to Lehman College for what will be a neutral-site home game against SUNY-Buffalo at 12 Noon.  It’s part of a CUNYAC Coaches vs. Cancer event.