The College of Staten Island women’s basketball team has now won four-straight games and are getting set for a big showdown this afternoon, when they host visiting Brooklyn College at the Sports & Recreation Center at 3pm. The game will determine first place in the CUNYAC standing and Brooklyn own a one-half game lead and beat the Dolphins once already this season. A win by the Dolphins would somersault them over the Bulldogs into a potential tie with Lehman College for first place, while a Brooklyn win will put them ahead by over a full game and ownership of the head-to-head tiebreaker.
CSI vs. BROOKLYN COLLEGE AT-A-GLANCE
Matchup: CSI (12-6 overall, 8-2 CUNYAC) vs. Brooklyn College (13-6 Overall, 9-2 CUNYAC)
Where: CSI Sports & Rec Center – 2800 Victory Blvd., Staten Island, NY
Tip-Off: 3:00pm
Ticket Info: $5 General Admission / Free – CSI Students, Faculty, Staff
Live Video: http://www.csidolphins.com/CSISportsNet
Promotional Info: One person will be chosen at random to shoot a half-court shot worth $5,000
All-Time Series: CSI leads, 33-15
This Year’s Result: Brooklyn defeated CSI, 63-57
Players To Watch (CSI): Christina Pasaturo continues to be among the national leaders in assists, as she is ranked fifth in the nations in helpers per game with 6.8, to go with her team leading 17.4 points per game. Samantha Flecker is second on the squad with 16 points per game and leads the team with 8.7 per contest. Nicole Vierno has come on strong and is posting 8.9 points per game, and she ranks 44th in the nation with two and a half blocks per contest.
Players To Watch (BC): The Bulldogs are being paced by junior Olivia Colbert’s 14.5 points per game while leading the squad in rebounding as well with 10.8 per clip. She torched the Dolphins for 20 points and 21 rebounds in their earlier meeting this season. Taylor Gallagher and Justine Vento are both averaging eight points per game and both tallied 12 in their win over CSI this season. Together with Colbert they accounted for 70% of BC’s scoring the last time these two teams locked up.
Notes: Together with their early season win, Brooklyn has now won the last five in the series, and the last two at the Sports & Recreation Center dating back to 2014. Three of the last five meetings between these two sides have been decided by seven points or less, that includes the last four played at CSI. Both teams have been good when shooting the ball well from the free-throw line this season, and that will be a focus today. BC is 8-2 when they shoot over the 65% mark, while the Dolphins are 7-1 in such games. The last time these two teams played, CSI shot a season-low 33% from the stripe. The Dolphins will look to shoot over the 40% mark today. When they do they are 10-1 this season. Holding opponents to under that threshold is Brooklyn’s bread-and-butter. They are holding opponents to 31.2% from the floor, the 13th best mark in the nation. BC is 13-2 when holding opponents to under 40% and are 0-4 when they do not. Turnovers have also been an issue for Brooklyn. They have turned the ball over 25 or more times eight times this season and are a pedestrian 4-4 in such games. They are 9-2 when posting under 25 turnovers. CSI is 5-2 when forcing 25+ turnovers in games this season.
