The College of Staten Island women’s basketball team got back on the winning side of the ledger, nipping visiting City College of New York, 52-50, as part of conference play at the Sports & Recreation Center.  CSI upped their mark to 6-8 overall and 3-2 in the CUNYAC, while the Beavers fell to 2-14, 0-4, respectively.

Scoring was at a premium for both teams in the opening stanza, as the teams combined to shoot just 16-of-55 from the floor.  The Beavers nursed a 24-19 lead at halftime, but CSI used a 6-0 run to take a 9-5 lead in the opening minutes thanks to a couple of jumpers by Danielle Kartalis and Nikki Fabozzi.  The Dolphins led by as many as five, 16-11, at the 5:47 mark, but CCNY used a 13-3 run to close the half to power to the halftime lead.  A pair of layups and free-throws by Simone Tharkur did a host of the damage for CCNY as they entered the lockers.

A jumper by Kendra Rivers and a lay-in by Sajidah Pressley to start the second frame gave CCNY their biggest lead at 28-19, but from there, CSI began to chip away.  A 12-2 run over the next three minutes, which featured nine Fabozzi points, cut the CCNY lead to 31-30 with 14:15 to go.  CSI grabbed their first lead at 13:06, 34-33, but the lead then changed hands four more times before CSI used a 9-2 run to take a comfortable 45-39 edge with 7:38 to go.

The Dolphins then went cold, missing eight of their final nine shots, but free-throws were the difference as the Dolphins were able to hit on four of their final seven freebies to lock up the game.  Tharkur cut the lead to one, 49-48, with 25 ticks left, but after Olivia Tierno made both ends of her free throws, CCNY opted for an inside basket down by three, cutting the lead to one again with seven seconds remaining.  Fabozzi then hit another free throw, and after a miss, CCNY was unable to get a last second shot off as time expired.

Fabozzi led all scorers for CSI with 25 points, adding six rebounds.  Kartalis finished with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.  Tharkur paced CCNY with 12 points.  CCNY led the rebounding war, 47-39, but committed 28 turnovers to the Dolphins’ 11.

CSI will return to action on Saturday, hosting John Jay College, at 3pm.