Box Score The College of Staten Island women's basketball squad built up a big early lead, and then held on late, to fight off Mount Saint Mary College at part of non-conference play tonight at the Sports & Recreation Center, 76-68. The win marked the Dolphins' fifth in a row, lifting the squad to 5-1 while the Knights collapsed to 0-6.
In the game's first stanza, the Dolphins relied heavily on the long-range shot, erasing a modest, 7-6, MSM lead by going on a numbing 25-7 run over the game's next eight minutes. CSI sophomore
Megan Myhre was the principal catalyst, dropping five three-pointers, including one at 12:17 to give CSI their first double-digit lead at 22-12.
While the Knights struggled offensively, CSI took their biggest lead of the game, 40-17, at the 4:19 mark of the stanza, spearheaded by another 7-3 mini run, capped by a
Jaclyn Tocco three and
Melanie Johnson put-back lay-up. The visitors closed on an 11-3 run, however, as Natalie Candarelli went on a personal five-point tear to help chip CSI's lead to 43-28 at the break. The 43 first half points for the Dolphins was their highest output of the season over 20 minutes.
It took some time, but the Dolphins big lead would evaporate in the second half, leading to some tense moments in the late stages. After yet another Myhre three gave CSI their biggest second-half lead, 58-41, with 13:36 to go, MSM countered with a 12-0 run over the next five minutes, aided by a pair of Rachel Perrone jumpers and a long three by Lauren Romao. CSI managed a free throw before another two trips down the floor for the Knights saw them cut the CSI lead to a digit, 59-58, with 6:59 to go.
From there, however, the visitors went cold, misfiring on their next seven shots as CSI got back in their own groove via an
Alyssa Carlsen free-throw and a lay-up by Johnson that stopped an 0-for-13 stretch that spanned almost 9 minutes for the Dolphins. Inside the final four minutes, CSI's
Nikki Fabozzi then answered the call, connecting on an inside drive and then a three of her own to nurse CSI's lead back to seven, 67-60, with 3:05 to go. Hoping to make one final run, a Perrone fast-break lay-up cut CSI's lead the three with 1:31 to play, but a
Lisa Galasso jumper the other way for CSI negated the effort, and after a MSM miss, Galasso sank a pair of freebies to start icing the game. Fabozzi cleaned up, making the final four free-throws to ultimately land CSI the eight-point win.
For the fourth time this season CSI finished with three players in double figures, boasting four tonight, led by Myhre's 21 markers. All of the sophomore's point came from behind the arc, where she buried 7-of-12 shots. Fabozzi finished with 17 points, adding five rebounds. Despite a 1-6 performance from long range, Johnson tallied 11 points to go with a game high 14 rebounds. Galasso finished with 11 points, making up for a tough shooting night (3-12) by tallying 12 assists, a season-high and tied for the seventh-highest total in CSI single game history.
MSM was led by Romao's 22 points on 6-17 shooting. Canadrelli finalized with 20 markers, while Rachel Perrone finished her evening with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Neither team was terribly effective from the charity stripe, as the Dolphins sank just 12 of 22 shots (54.5%), while the Knights finished 11-23 (47.8%).
The Dolphins' overall record of 5-1 marks their finest start since the 2008-09 season, when they began the campaign 7-1.
?CSI is back in action this Friday night, travelling to Brooklyn College to take on the Bulldogs at 5pm.
