The College of Staten Island women’s basketball unit got back on the winning side of the ledger today, taking down Berkeley College (NY) by a 72-56 count in the Consolation Game of the UMass-Boston Tip-Off Tournament in Boston, Massachusetts. CSI improved to 2-1 on the season, while Berkeley fell to 0-2.
After playing their first two games and shooting well below 35% in each game, the Dolphins came out in better form this time around, shooting 47.1% (16-34) in the game’s opening stanza, staking themselves to a 41-27 lead at intermission. A quick 10-2 run to open the game got things started, aided by a pair of baskets each by Rachel Rosado and Nikki Fabozzi. Later, when a Koti Rahinet jumper cut CSI’s lead to 17-13 with 9:53 to go in the frame, CSI powered to a 15-1 run spanning the next 4+ minutes. Jennifer Coughlan had a pair of buckets in the run, as did Katelyn Hepworth, who completed one layup with a three-point play at the foul line.
Twice in the opening two minutes of the second half, Berkeley was able to knock CSI’s lead down to 11 points, but the Dolphins proved up to the task of warding off their opponent, using another 15-6 run over an eight minute stretch to grab their biggest lead, 58-38, with just over 10 minutes to play.
Another Coughlan jumper eventually gave CSI their biggest lead at 69-46 with 4:02 to play before Berkeley finished the game on a 10-3 run.
CSI finished the game shooting 43.5% (27-62) to Berkeley’s 33.9% (19-56). Berkeley did win the rebounding war, 43-27, but also committed a whopping 30 turnovers to CSI’s 21. Junior Hepworth was named to the All-Tournament team after pouring in a game-high 22 points and 9 rebounds, adding six assists. Rosado notched 17 points and seven rebounds, while Coughlan added 10 points. Berkeley’s Taisha Sherman also notched 22 points to go with seven boards while teammate Janay Thomas finished with 11 points.
CSI next plays Ramapo College on the road on Tuesday, November 22, at 5:30pm, in Mahwah, New Jersey.
