In a game where the Dolphins led by as many as 20 points, the College of Staten Island held on late to turn back New York University, 65-62, on the road, lifting to 4-1 on the young season.  The win was the Dolphins’ first over the Violets since 1984, breaking a 21-game losing streak to NYU in the process.  The Violets, playing their home games at Hunter College while undergoing renovations to their home gymnasium, leveled to 3-3 overall.
 
NYU saw their one and only lead early, going up, 3-2, on a Kaitlyn Read three to start the game, but CSI went on a 15-5 bender for a major part of the first quarter, grabbing the lead for good on a three from Victoria Crea at 4:41 of the first.  Holding NYU to just 3-15 from the floor in the second quarter, CSI started to run away with the affair, using a Samantha Flecker three to extend into double-digits, 21-10, with 7:47 left in the half.  Later, a 12-2 run, powered by two Jacquelyn Cali three’s, gave CSI a commanding 36-16 edge, their largest of the game.  CSI went into intermission up, 36-20, canning 8-of-21 three-point shot attempts.
 
Needing a second-half surge, NYU chipped away in the early stages of the third.  Read hit a three and then a lay-in to cut the CSI lead to 39-29, and after another Read three, Reiko Johnson cut the deficit to 44-37 with 3:23 to play in the third period.  A Christina Pasaturo jumper kept NYU away, and to end the frame, a Diana Todaro lay-up put CSI back up by double-digits, 48-38, at the end of the third frame. 
 
Pasaturo canned a three to extend CSI to 53-38 with 7:00 to play, but NYU had time for one more surge, and reeled off a 16-4 run over the next 4:37 to close to 57-54, highlighted by two Gabby Heinsinger three’s.  A clutch lay-up by Cali broke the run with 1:52, to put CSI up, 59-54, and from there, CSI won the game at the free-throw line, going 6-for-6 down the stretch to keep NYU at bay and hold on for the 65-62 win.
 
Pasaturo would lead the way for CSI with 19 points, adding six assists, while Cali poured in 14 points on 3-5 shooting from the arc.  Flecker tallied 12 points and finished with a team-best eight rebounds.  Read powered NYU with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Johnson tallied 13 and Heinsinger 12, both off of the bench.  NYU out-rebounded CSI, 38-34, but CSI was a plus-seven in the turnover column, forcing 21 Violet errors.
 
CSI’s last win over NYU came way back in 1984, when CSI won the first two games in the series.  From there, NYU had taken the next 21 games, 20 by double-digits.  That streak finalized tonight, as CSI won for the second-straight time and improved to 3-0 on the road this season.
 
The Dolphins will next be on the road on Saturday, traveling to John Jay College for a 2pm matinee, their CUNYAC opener.