Staten Island, NY  |  The College of Staten Island Women's Basketball team picked up their third victory in the last four games this afternoon as they defeated the Knights of Mount Saint Mary by a score of 74-60.  After taking a two-point lead into the haltime intermission, CSI pulled away in the second half to improve their record to 3-7 and hand the 6-2 Knights their first loss in their last six games.

The two teams exchanged baskets throughout the first quarter and it was Kayla Schmitter who provided CSI with their first eleven points of the game on 4-4 from the field and 2-2 from the free-throw line.  The fourth make by Schmitter brought CSI to within one and made it a 12-11 lead for the Knights at the midway point in the quarter.  After 11 from Schmitter, Diana Todaro then scored the next seven for the Dolphins to wrap up the quarter that ended with the two teams knotted up at 18.

After struggling to begin the second quarter on Wednesday, the Dolphins once again started the second quarter poorly against the Knights.  Mount St. Mary scored 11 of the first 13 points in the quarter to give them a 29-20 lead, but the Dolphins came up with an answer in the form of an 11-0 run.

Now trailing 31-29, the Knights scored the next six to go in front 35-31 before the Dolphins got even at 35 behind back-to-back makes by Jada Rogers.  Todaro, who had eleven points and seven rebounds through the first two quarters, gave CSI the lead entering the half with a finish on the break in the final seconds and sent the teams into halftime with the score CSI 37, MSMC 35.

Todaro's 11 was second only to Schmitter who had 13 and her seven rebounds led the team through half number one.  For the Knights, Toriana Tabasco had 7 on 3-4 from the field and Lauren Desrats led the team with 9 on only 3-7.  The Dolphins connected on nearly 47% of their shots through the first half while the Knights hit just shy of 38%, a big part of the reason why CSI was able to come back from nine down in the second and take the lead into the locker room.

The Dolphins began the third quarter strong and scored seven of the first nine points in the quarter to go ahead 44-37, but the Knights would get as close as a single point less than a minute later, 44-43.  Schmitter gave the CSI some breathing room and put the Dolphins up three with a jumper, and after a Knights free throw made it a two-point game, Kristina Arvelo put CSI ahead five with a three-pointer.

Leading 49-44, Megan McEwan, who found herself in first-half foul trouble, made back-to-back layups to put the Dolphins in front by nine.  This would be CSI's largest lead of the quarter and the Knights battled back to within seven entering the final frame.  Mount St. Mary would open the scoring in the fourth to make it a five-point game, but CSI would answer with the next five to go ahead by double-digits for the first time.  From that point forward, CSI maintained a lead of at least seven and the Dolphins closed out the Knights to pick up the 74-60 win.

Schmitter led CSI in scoring with 17, but it was Todaro's numbers that stood out on the final box score as she scored 16 and pulled down 21 rebounds.  McEwan's 15 and Rogers' 13 put both of them in double-figures as well.  Morina Bojka had 21 on 10-22 to lead Mount St. Mary, but that wasn't enough to overcome CSI's dominance on the boards, 54-38, and their 42% to 35% advantage shooting the ball in what was a complete effort for the Dolphins in their third win of the season.

The Dolphins return to action in 2020 when they visit John Jay on Saturday, January 4th in what will be the first of five straight games against CUNYAC opponents.

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