POSTGAME INTERVIEW – GAME VIDEO – The College of Staten Island women’s basketball team got back into the win column with their CUNYAC opener tonight against the Bloodhounds of John Jay College.  The Dolphins routed the Bloodhounds 82-47 to improve to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the CUNYAC while dropping the Bloodhounds to 0-5 overall and 0-1 in the CUNYAC.
 
CSI opened the game with a 23-5 first quarter lead and never looked back.  The early goings of the game had the looks to be a close one as the Dolphins led the Bloodhounds just 6-5.  CSI would respond and go on a 21-0 run that would put the game out of reach for John Jay.
 
CSI shot 49.2% (32-65) from the floor, 57.1% (12-21) from range and just 6-16 from the line. John Jay College shot 34% (18-53) from the field while shooting just 20% (2-10) from behind-the-arc and 9-15 from the charity stripe.
 
After a slow start to the game Christina Pasaturo, the new member to the 1000-point club, would finish the game with a team high 17 points and three rebounds while team member Angelique Price finished with 16 points and three assists. Samantha Flecker made sure that the Bloodhounds had limited second chance opportunities as she led the Dolphins with eight rebounds while tallying 9 points.
 
The 21-0 run that started just three minutes into the game and carried over to the first minute of the second quarter was all the Dolphins would need to seal this game away. Freshman Nihada Bracic got her first start of the season and sunk her lone three-point of the game.  The Bloodhounds used their size on the boards as they outrebounded the Dolphins 42-30 in the game.  For the Bloodhounds it was turnovers that ultimately did them in as the Dolphins’ defense was too quick and caused 33 turnovers.  CSI was protective of the ball tonight, turning it over just 9 times, a season low.
 
Pasaturo started the second quarter off by sinking a three-point basket to give her, her 1,000 career point, making her the 19th women’s basketball player to do so.  Holding a 22-point lead the Dolphins bench got in on the action for a majority of the second quarter. Vassageia Watson would tally her first career points in a Dolphins uniform in the dying moments before the half when she sank a shot from downtown to put the Dolphins up 27 over the Bloodhounds.
 
CSI would cruise through the second half as Pasaturo exploded for 12 points, thanks to stout defense by her teammates which allowed her to get open down court for easy layups. Chanelle Alvarez and Rosa Perone each scored eight points coming off of the bench for the Dolphins. CSI pulled out to a 40-point lead in the third quarter, their largest of the game, before the Bloodhounds would chip away at that deficit to get within 29 of the Dolphins. 
 
Staten Island would bring their lead back up to 35 points before the final buzzer.  The 9 turnovers marks the lowest of the season for the Dolphins, and the lowest since they only had eight turnovers against Baruch College on February 12, 2016 of last season.
 
The Dolphins will return to action on Saturday where they will travel to York College for yet another CUNYAC bout at 1:00 pm.