Box Score The College of Staten Island women's basketball team fell for the third time this season at the hands of Brooklyn College, this time as part of the ECAC Metro NY/NJ / Upstate Championship, in a defensive, 59-55, affair in Brooklyn this afternoon. For the Bulldogs it spelled their second-straight ECAC Championship, while the Dolphins finalized their season at 19-9.
In a game that saw Brooklyn lead wire-to-wire, the Bulldogs used their dominance on the boards as the difference, out-rebounding CSI, 55-34, resulting in a 32-16 scoring advantage in the paint, and a 22-12 advantage in second chance points. Held to the perimeter for much of the game, the Dolphins shot just 33% and kept clawing back in the contest only to see Brooklyn shut the door time and again.
The Bulldogs got off to a flying start, racing out to a 16-4 first quarter lead after the game's first eight minutes. The Dolphins managed to catch a little fire from there, as
Angelique Price powered for a drive and
Christina Pasaturo buried a three to make it 16-9 at the end of the first quarter. Twanda Holder had six points for Brooklyn in the period, while Karen Mak canned five points, including a three.
That set the tone for the rest of the game, as CSI tried in vain to pose numerous comebacks only to find a resilient Brooklyn team answering each challenge. The Dolphins cut the BC lead to three on three occasions and with inside of a minute to go in the half, Pasaturo buried another three to make it a 26-24 game, but Maya Ajee-Thomas immediately responded with a lay-up and after a CSI turnover, BC was able to get into half with a six-point lead thanks to a Mak layup at the buzzer.
Much like they did to start the game, BC started red-hot to start the second half, rolling to an opening 7-0 run to widen the gap to 37-24, Olivia Colbert started it with a three-point play. Again, the Dolphins would muster a comeback, cutting the lead to two, after a 13-2 run over the next four minutes.
Samantha Flecker powered for two lay-ups and seniors
Victoria Gallinaro and
Jamie Pifalo added long-range shots. Again, BC had an answer, powering on the inside was Ajee-Thomas with another three-point play, and after a CSI miss, BC's Taylor Gallagher net two free-throws to make it a three possession game. CSI fell cold from there, falling by eight, 46-38, at the end of the third period.
BC would resume a double-digit lead midway through the fourth quarter, but CSI posed more threats. With 3:28 to go, Pasaturo powered for a layup to cut the lead to 53-47. BC turned the ball over immediately, but CSI would then miss an open layup, and on the other end, BC would score three offensive rebounds and finally score with 2:19 to go to take a lot of the wind out of CSI's sails.
With inside of a minute to go, CSI would cut the lead down to as few as four, but BC responded with tremendous free-throw shooting all afternoon long and it was enough to ward off the finish and hold BC to a 59-55 win.
After a huge game against the Dolphins in the CUNYAC Semifinals, Mak added another great performance in the Final and was awarded MVP honors, turning in a 17-point, 10-rebound afternoon, adding four assists. Colbert also added a double-double, posting 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Ajee-Thomas recorded 13 points. CSI was paced by Pasaturo's 18 points and seven rebounds, while Flecker accumulated 16 points and seven boards. CSI was a plus-eight in the turnover column, but shot an anemic 5-of-24 from three point range (21%).
This was the fourth meeting between the two teams this season, with Brooklyn having taken three of the wins by a combined 16 points. This marked their first meeting in ECAC play in their history, and it's the first back-to-back title for Brooklyn. CSI's only ECAC title came in 2009, the last time before today that made the trip to the Final.
