Brooklyn, NY | The College of Staten Island women’s basketball team saw their 2018-19 season come to an end tonight, as the No. 3 seeded Dolphins fell to No. 2 Brooklyn College, the defending CUNYAC Champs, 70-52, in a game that the Bulldogs led nearly end-to-end, breaking away late. CSI finalized their season with a record of 19-8, while the Bulldogs will move on to Friday night’s CUNYAC Championship Final against top-seeded Hunter College.
The Bulldogs scored the opening two baskets of the game to take a quick lead before CSI went on a 7-0 bender to grab the lead, powered by four-straight Kayla Schmitter points and a three by Megan McEwan. From there, however, the first quarter belonged completely to the home side. The Dolphins would hit on just two of their final nine shots in the frame, committing seven turnovers as BC streaked to a 21-4 run to end the quarter.
Taylor George and Chanel Jammott landed lay-ups to end an 8-0 run by Brooklyn in the first frame and later, a three pointer by Grace Martinez-Espinal gave the Bulldogs their first double-digit lead, putting the home side up, 23-11.
In the second quarter a George three and then a three-point play by Jemmott gave BC a commanding, 34-17, edge, before CSI gathered some momentum and put a dent in the lead. Schmitter canned a three, and then added another lay-up to cut the BC lead to just 10, 34-24. From there the teams stayed relatively even before another three late by George helped put BC up, 40-28, going into halftime.
BC quickly went up again by their biggest lead just 1:31 into the second half, but then the home side hit a wall as CSI’s defense tightened and started to cut into the deficit. McEwan laced in six-straight points, and later, Cristina Camerlengo hit on a pair of free-throws to cut the deficit to 10 again, 48-38, with 1:32 to go in the third stanza.
Although points were hard to come by, CSI was still able to score the first four points of the fourth quarter, and Diana Todaro did the honors, cutting the deficit to just six points, 48-42, with 7:52 to go in regulation. On the next possession CSI would force a miss, but after the Dolphins could not capitalize, Brooklyn found their way, and within a flash the Bulldogs raced out to an 11-2 run over the next three minutes. Alexandra Moogan did most of the damage with a pair of three’s, staking the home side to a 59-44 edge with just under five minutes to play. After CSI cut the lead down to 11, BC again went on a run, this time 11-4, to end the game with a lop-sided score of 70-52.
BC’s balanced effort featured 18 points each from Jemmott and George, with jemmott adding 10 rebounds. moogan finished with 12 points, while Jasmine Hansgen finished with eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds. CSI got a team-high 14 points from McEwan, while Schmitter was next in line with 13 points an tied for a team-high seven rebounds. The Dolphins shot a chilly 29.2% from the floor while BC posted 36.7%. The Bulldogs out-rebounded CSI, 48-38.
With the loss, the Dolphins have officially closed their 2018-19 campaign. Despite the disappointment of falling short of a CUNYAC Cha,pionship, the Dolphins made significant headway under first-year Head Coach Nicole Sarcone, falling just short of 20 wins and a third-place CUNYAC finish after being predicted to finish fifth in the CUNYAC Preseason Poll.
