The College of Staten Island Women's Basketball team will still be looking for their first win of the season when they travel to Old Westbury, NY tonight for a meeting with the Bears of New York Tech. The Dolphins are 0-4 through four games thus far while the Bears have already played seven games and come in with a record of 4-3.
CSI @ NEW YORK TECH AT-A-GLANCE
Matchup: College of Staten Island (0-4) vs. New York Tech (4-3)
Where: Recreation Hall - Old Westbury, NY
Live Video: https://nyitbears.com/sports/2018/7/27/blueframe-widget.aspx?id=100&bfplayvid=126461
Live Stats: https://nyitbears.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Players to Watch (CSI): Megan McEwan continues to lead the Dolphins in scoring due in large part to how often she has gone to the free-throw line this season as she has attempted 36 free-throws, making 31 of them. She also has a team-high 16 steals, but is still trying to find her shooting stroke as she is shooting only 28.6% from the floor. The other Dolphin averaging double-digits is freshman Jada Rogers with 10.5 points per game while shooting an efficient 50% from the field and 67% from the charity stripe on 21 free throw attempts. McEwan and Rogers are two of three Dolphins who have connected on 14 shots through four games with the last being Kayla Schmitter. Schmitter is averaging 8.8 per game on 36.8% shooting, 40% from beyond the arc. It has been this trio of players that CSI has relied heavily upon for scoring and they will be looking for them to help lead the team to their first win of the 2019-2020 season. On the glass Deidrie Foster has contributed 6.5 rebounds per game which is the most among players who have appeared in all four games for CSI. The Dolphins also expect Diana Todaro and her team-leading 7.5 rebounds per game to return to the lineup tonight after missing the last two games.
Players to Watch (NYIT): The Bears do not have a single player averaging double-digits but have gotten strong two-way play from multiple players so far this season. Their leading scorer, Ketsia Athias, is averaging 9.7 points and 8.9 rebounds while Meg Knollmeyer, the team's third leading scorer, has added 9.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Rounding out the list of players scoring at least 9.0 points per game for the Bears is Shalie Frierson with 9.4 points. She has also added a team-best 13 steals and Knollmeyer is right behind her with 11. Zoe Amalbert also has 10 steals to make it three Bears who have tallied at least 10 in that category.
News & Notes: CSI once again meets an opponent for the first time in program history in tonight's game, but the Bears will become a team that the Dolphins will grow familiar with as they are also a member of the East Coast Conference. The Dolphins have dropped their first two games at home thus far and will be looking to not only pick up their first win of the season at The Tank, but will also be looking to deny the Bears their first win of the year on the road. New York Tech's dominance on the boards bodes well for them in their meeting with CSI as they have held an advantage of nearly nine rebounds per game over their opponents while CSI has lost the rebounding battle by an average of 6.5 per game. For the Dolphins, they will look to limit the outside shooting of the Bears as New York Tech has only converted on 28% of their chance from long-range. A win in tonight's game would be the first for CSI against a Division II opponent since becoming a D2 program.
What's Next?: After tonight's game the Dolphins will face NCAA Division I-rivals Wagner College on Saturday at 1 pm. As for the Bears, they will travel to Philadelphia for a road matchup with Usciences at the same time that the Dolphins will be facing the Seahawks on Saturday at 1 PM.
