Newburgh, NY | The College of Staten Island women’s basketball squad struggled all night to find the bottom of the net and were the victim of the turnover, as they fell on the road to Mount Saint Mary College as part of non-conference play, 57-40.  The loss, the second-straight, dropped the Dolphins to 3-2 on the season, while the Knights leveled their record to 2-2 overall.

It was a tough night for the Dolphins from the get-go offensively, and the cold shooting would ultimately catch up to them after MSMC was guilty too of a poor start. 

The Dolphins had the lead for most of the first quarter.  A Vassegia Watson three got CSI started, and after MSMC grabbed a modest, 6-5, lead on a Katie Smith lay-up, Megan McEwan followed with a free-throw pair to stake CSI to a lead, and it would hold up to an 11-8 CSI advantage at the end of the first stanza.

Scoring was still at a premium in the second quarter, and after another McEwan free-throw gave CSI a 14-13 lead, the Knights began to catch fire, and used an 11-0 run over the next five-plus minutes to take a 24-14 edge, spearheaded by baskets from six different Knight players.  Another McEwan jumper stopped the bleeding, but the Knights would score the final four points of the half to take a 28-16 lead into the locker room.

Trying to force their way inside, CSI did claw back in the third quarter, using baskets by Rosa Perone and Diana Todaro to cut the MSMC lead to single digits, 30-23, with 7:29 to go in the third.  CSI would cut the lead to five but a Lyndsay Pace three for the Knights got the home team their swagger back, and the Knights would finish on an 11-6 tear to end the third, taking a 43-32 lead after three.

CSI again fought back nicely, and a Jacquelyn Cali three vut the lead to eight, 46-38 with 8:25 to go.  Unfortunately, however, CSI hit a snag, and would misfire on their next 10 shots while also turning the ball over five times over the next seven minutes.  In the meantime the home side took full advantage, using another 11-0 run to take their biggest lead at 57-38 before CSI added a bucket to end the game inside the final two minutes.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well, but a 38.5% performance for MSMC was enough (20-52) compared to CSI’s 22.4% (13-58).  The Dolphins also capitalized on just three of 23 three-point attempts, and MSMC enjoyed a 47-35 edge in rebounds.  The 40 points scored by the Dolphins was their lowest since February of 2012.

McEwan led the way for CSI with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Perone finished with eight markers.  MSMC was paced by Smith’s 14 points, while Lauren Desrats posted 13.  Annie Keenan led all scorers with 14 rebounds.

CSI will now look to get right on Friday, when they open up conference play on the road at CCNY at 5pm.