In what is becoming a familiar script, the College of Staten Island women’s basketball team got off a sizable lead early, then held on the rest of the way thanks to a suffocating defense to put up an 86-47 win on the road over York College in Jamaica, NY. The Dolphins, winners of four-straight and now 5-0 on the road this season, improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the CUNYAC, while the Cardinals fell to 1-5, 0-2, respectively.
Outscoring their opponents by a huge margin in the first quarter this season, the Dolphins did it again this evening. Deadlocked at 7-7 three minutes in, the Dolphins then rattled off a 10-2 run, at one point converting baskets on four straight York turnovers, one a Jacquelyn Cali three.
After pulling to within 17-13 on a pair of Sheahna Roscher free-throws, CSI then shut the door defensively, holding York to 0-4 shooting and forcing seven turnovers in the final 3:30 of the frame, posting a 15-0 run in the process and taking a 32-13 lead at the end of 10 minutes. Christina Pasaturo posted two baskets in the run, including an opening three, while Nicole Imbesi scored the final three in the run, the last two on a transition layup near the buzzer.
A tempered CSI made plenty of substitutions in the second quarter, and the Dolphins continued the assault with a 15-2 run to open the quarter’s first five minutes, spearheaded by a pair of Samantha Flecker baskets and two more Pasaturo three’s. After leading by as many as 34, CSI took a 52-23 lead at the half.
A resilient Cardinals squad would cut CSI’s lead to 22 in the second half, thanks to a 9-2 open, helped by three Karen Bellamy points, but CSI proved too strong, and an 18-4 finish by the Dolphins gave the visitors their biggest lead at 72-36 after three periods. The Dolphins would lead by as many as 41 before settling for the 86-47 final.
For CSI it was their seventh-straight win over York on the road and their 15th in a row over the Cardinals overall dating back to 2010. The Dolphins were paced by Pasaturo’s season-high 30 points, while fellow senior Flecker posted a double-double with 15 points and a season high 11 rebounds. Bellamy led the Cardinals with 15 points. The Dolphins forced an unbelievable 48 York turnovers, negating 28 of their own to finish a plus-20 in the category, helping them to 27 more shots taken.
After a lengthy road stretch, CSI will return home for their next tilt, another CUNYAC test on Saturday against City College of New York at 1pm at the Sports & Recreation Center.
