Staten Island, NY | The Dolphins needed overtime to take care of the intruding Cyclones of Centenary University this afternoon at The Tank. For the Dolphins, it was their fourth win in five games and for the Cyclones, it was their fourth loss over a five-game span. With the win, CSI improves to 9-3 while Centenary drops to 1-7 on the year.
Megan McEwan once again led the Dolphins on the court with 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the floor. McEwan was held in check for a majority of the game until she exploded towards the end of the game when her team needed her most. Both Diana Todaro and Brianna Robisky tallied 12 points in the overtime win while Todaro led the way with six rebounds.
After one quarter of play, the Dolphins held a healthy 16-8 lead and had full control of the game. McEwan would stretch the Dolphins’ lead with a pair of 3-point baskets early on while Todaro and Kayla Schmitter took care of business in the paint. That momentum the Dolphins had in the opening stanza didn’t carry over to the second quarter as the Cyclones were able to spin into the lead with four minutes remaining in the half.
Holding a one-point lead, the Cyclones and Dolphins played defensive basketball to hold each other scoreless for three minutes. Taylor Bossert broke the drought by converting a 3-point shot to increase her teams lead to four. McEwan would cash in on a jumper to cut the lead down to two headed into the half despite being outscored 17-7.
Centenary was able to keep the Dolphins caged up in the third quarter as they were able to stretch their lead out to six by the end. Centenary’s lead could be attributed to Bossert finding her groove from behind the arc as she hit back-to-back 3-point baskets. Staten Island refused to lose on their home court, Robisky kept it a one-point contest when she denied Bossert from range.
The Cyclones did their best to try to close out the game in the fourth but the Dolphins were determined to get back into the win column. Down by five with three minutes to go, Nicole Imbesi corralled a pass from Todaro and found the bottom of the net on a mid-range jumper to cut the lead down to three. Centenary was able to push their lead back out to five but were unable to hold on as Imbesi once again cut the lead down with a driving layup.
McEwan cut the lead down to one, cashing in on a pair from the charity stripe. Luckily for the Dolphins, when Robisky intentionally fouled, Carly Tarnowski would convert just one-of-two free throws. Head Coach Nicole Sarcone would signal for a timeout and to advance the ball and draw up the perfect play. The play would pay dividends as McEwan bounced her layup off of the backboard and into the net to tie the game up with two seconds left to send the game into overtime.
After that basket, the Dolphins looked re-energized heading into overtime. With the foul bonus carrying over into overtime the game was won at the line for the Dolphins as they were clutch from the line which helped down the Cyclones for the fourth straight time.
Up next for the Dolphins is York College on Thursday, January 3 at The Tank in a 5:30 CUNYAC contest.
GAME VIDEO
