New York, NY | The College of Staten Island women’s basketball team made a statement in their CUNYAC opening game of the season tonight, breaking up an early stalemate with a 74-53 win over the City College of New York as part of the opening night of conference play. The win broke a two-game losing skid for CSI, as they improved to 4-2 overall, while the Beavers leveled to 3-3.
Mara Poch and Debra Chan hit on a pair of three-pointers in the game’s first two minutes, giving the host CCNY side a quick, 6-2, edge in the early stages and from there, the game play stayed relatively even until the Dolphins surged in the later stages of the game’s first half.
Before all that, CSI was able to take the lead back thanks to a 10-0 run, highlighted by a Megan McEwan three at 6:45 of the first that gave CSI a 7-6 lead. From that point, however, the lead would change hands a pair of times in the first quarter. A pair of Ashley Brooks free throws would give the Beavers back a 15-14 edge before CSI answered with a 9-3 response of the quarter’s final 2:20, giving them a 23-18 edge at the end of the first, spearheaded by four Kayla Schmitter points.
Elizabeth Zullo canned another three for CCNY in the second frame to bring the hosts down to within one, 25-24, and the Beavers would eventually break even at the 5:52 mark of the half, making it 29-29 on a driving layup by Chan.
That is when the Dolphins made their explosive move. CCNY would not score another point the rest of the way as CSI’s defense forced six turnovers. Meanwhile, Devin Mooney scored a pair of baskets, one a three to spark an 11-0 run to finish the half, giving CSI a big, 40-29, edge at the half in a game otherwise played fairly even.
CCNY hoped the break would be a positive one, but their slump continued into the second half, and CSI scored the first seven points of the frame to take a commanding 47-29 lead, helped along by inside baskets from Brianna Robisky and Schmitter.
The lead would prove plenty as CSI seemed to coast the rest of the way. The Dolphins went up by an even 20 on a McEwan three at 6:08 of the third to make it 50-30, and another Mooney basket at the buzzer gave CSI their biggest lead to that point, 59-37, at the end of the third period.
A little over three minutes into the final period, CSI assumed their biggest lead at 70-41 when Mooney canned another bucket, and CCNY worked hard from there to make the final score as respectable as possible before CSI finished with the 74-53 final.
CSI finished the game shooting 40.3% from the field (27-67) while holding CCNY to just 32.1% (17-53). CSI’s overwhelming shot advantage was a product of 18 CCNY turnovers and a 48-35 rebounding advantage for the Dolphins.
Schmitter led the way for CSI with 16 points and 10 rebounds, adding a pair of blocks. Mooney added 14 points with seven rebounds and two steals, while McEwan put in another 14 points, and Diana Todaro totaled 10 points with eight boards. CCNY was led by Chan’s 13 points, adding three assists, while Zullo posted 12 points and a couple of rebounds.
CSI will now keep their CUNYAC schedule flowing with a date against John jay College on Tuesday, December 4, at 5:30 pm, part of a doubleheader at the College.
