Brooklyn, NY | The College of Staten Island women’s basketball squad posted perhaps their finest victory of the season tonight, scoring a 62-45 winner over Brooklyn College on the road. The Bulldogs were sitting in first place in the CUNYAC standings and ranked No. 2 in the Atlantic Region by the NCAA coming in and had defeated the Dolphins earlier this season, 73-68. With the win, CSI improved to 18-5 overall and 12-3 within the CUNYAC, while Brooklyn fell to 20-3, 12-2, respectively.
In their earlier meeting of the season, the Bulldogs broke open the game in the third quarter, and CSI did similar honors this time around, overturning the game in their favor thanks to a big third quarter run, expanding in in the final 10 minutes to take the win in a game that was much closer than the final score would indicate.
Brooklyn was in control for most of the initial half, and led for a majority of the first quarter, taking an early, 8-3, edge thanks to three’s from Karen Mak and Taylor George. Victoria Crea helped CSI claw away at the lead, dipping it to as few as one before a lay-up and then a three from BC’s Mak made it a 15-11 game at the end of the first frame.
BC led for just about the entire second frame, but the Dolphins refused to let BC balloon the lead, each time cutting it to a single possession after Brooklyn would generate offense. Three’s by Crea, Samantha Flecker and Christina Pasaturo would ultimately tie the game, and then at 1:47, Diana Todaro did the same to make it 25-25. Todaro would then add the final three points of the half after BC has knocked in a pair of free-throws, finally giving the Dolphins a lead, 28-27, as both teams entered the locker room.
The teams started the third quarter with back-and-forth play, but a key run proved to be the difference for the visitors. A Jasmine Hansgen bucket for BC cut CSI’s lead to 39-37 with 4:43 to go in the frame, but the Dolphins would then counter with an 8-2 run to end the quarter, holding BC to just 1-4 from the floor with three turnovers while Todaro pumped in another two baskets.
Three-straight Brooklyn points started the final 10 minutes on the game, but again CSI retaliated, this time with a 7-0 run thanks to two Pasaturo lay-ups and a Flecker bomb to stake CSI to a more comfortable, 54-42 edge with 6:16 to go.
From there, CSI’s defense took over, as the Dolphins held the Bulldogs to 0-9 shooting down the final six minutes, as Rosa Perone and Todaro added a couple of baskets each for the Dolphins, opening up the lead and finalizing CSI’s edge to 62-45 as time expired. By the time the dust settled, Brooklyn had managed just 18 second-half points, shooting just 22% from the floor (7-32) and were 0-7 from beyond the arc.
The Dolphins, who were out-rebounded 58-29 the last time out against Brooklyn, this time overpowered the Bulldogs on the glass, owning a 54-38 advantage. The Dolphins were led by Flecker’s 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Todaro finalized with 14 points and 20 rebounds, the most by a Dolphin since Jacclyn Rock took in 22 back in February of 2005. Brooklyn was steadied by Mak’s 16 points while Moogan finished with just four points and a team-best 13 rebounds.
For CSI, the win over Brooklyn will insure them of no less than the No. 2 seed in the conference which will come with a first-round bye in the CUNYAC Quarterfinals. CSI can win the Regular Season Championship with a win over Lehman College on Saturday and a loss by Brooklyn in either one of their final two games, although they will likely be heavy favorites against both John Jay College nd York College.
CSI and Lehman will tip-off at 12 Noon on Saturday.
