Staten Island, NY  |  The College of Staten Island Women's Basketball team continued their recent stretch of exceptional play as they held off a late surge by Cabrini University to come away with a 77-70 victory.  For the 8-8 Dolphins, they have now reached the .500 mark for the first time this season after winning their third in a row tonight.  For the 11-5 Cavaliers, tonight's loss is the first in their last five games.

The Dolphins got off to a slow start offensively as they did not score their first points until nearly four minutes into the game.  Fortunately for them, Cabrini only managed to score six points during those opening minutes, four belonging to Ashley Tutzauer.  The Dolphins did come alive following their first make of the game as four different CSI scorers would contribute to a 10-0 run over two and a half minutes that gave CSI a 10-6 lead.

A Meghan Matthews and-one ended the Cabrini scoring drought with just over three minutes to play in the opening quarter and brought the Cavaliers back within one, 10-9.  Matthews then gave Cabrini the lead moments later with another make, but the Dolphins responded with a 5-0 run to end the quarter.  For the Dolphins, seven different players scored in the quarter which saw CSI score sixteen of the final twenty-one points in the frame.

In the second quarter, the Dolphins hot shooting continued with Kristina Arvelo connecting on her first two attempts out of the break, one from beyond the arc and another from mid-range.  A three-pointer by Miranda Liebtag cut the Dolphins lead down to five before Kayla Schmitter answered with a jumper of her own.  Liebtag then knocked down her second consecutive attempt from downtown to bring the Cavaliers within four, but Schmitter once again delivered the response, this time from long range, to put the Dolphins back up by seven. 

Liebtag added two more from the line to give her eight straight points for the Cavaliers, but the Dolphins quickly got back in front by seven again moments later on another make by Arvelo.  Trailing 30-23, the Cavaliers came storming back with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to pull ahead 31-30.  However, the Dolphins would close the first-half scoring with a Megan McEwan three-pointer, a shot that came with 2:25 remaining on the clock.  This would be the last time either team would score in the second and the Dolphins would take a 33-31 into the locker room.

Liebtag led the way in scoring for Cabrini with 11 points in the half followed by Tutzauer and Matthews with 9 each.  For the Dolphins, eight different players scored led by Arvelo with 7 and McEwan and Schmitter with 6 each.  Diana Todaro led CSI on the glass with six boards followed by Deidre Foster and Schmitter with 5.  CSI shot only 39.3% from the field, but 40% from long range in the half while the Cavaliers shot 30.3% from the floor and 31.3% from downtown.

The Dolphins took control of the game coming out of the halftime break increasing their lead to six just inside of the seven-minute mark.  The Cavaliers cut the lead to four, but McEwan scored six straight Dolphins points to put CSI in front by nine.  A Cabrini free-throw brought them back within eight, but it was here that the Dolphins broke the game open with a 12-0 run, six coming on three-pointers by Arvelo and McEwan.  The Cavaliers ended the run with only 12 seconds to play in the quarter, but the Dolphins scored on a putback as the buzzer sounded to send the game into the final quarter with a score of 59-40.

Cabrini started off the fourth quarter strong scoring the first six points through the first three minutes, but Schmitter gave the Dolphins a much-needed basket to end the run there.  However, the Cavaliers had another run in them as CSI began to struggle against an intense Cabrini full-court press.  Beginning at the 5:51 mark, the Cavaliers scored eleven straight to cut what was a fifteen-point Dolphin lead down to five with 4:21 to play.

With Cabrini now as close as they had been since midway through the second quarter, CSI was in dire need of big baskets down the stretch, and Jada Rogers delivered just that when she ended the CSI scoreless stretch with just over four minutes left to play.  The Cavaliers quickly cut the deficit down to five again, but this time McEwan connected on another jumper to put CSI back ahead by seven.  A Tutzauer three brought Cabrini within four with three minutes to go, but this was as close as they would get.

The Cavaliers would get within four a second time with 1:49 left, but CSI took care of business from the charity stripe and came up with the key stops they needed down the stretch to come away with the win, 77-70.  Tutzauer led the Cavaliers in scoring with 22, Matthews finished with 14 points and 8 rebounds, and Leibtag only scored 4 in the second half after a stellar shooting performance in half number one.  McEwan finished with a season-high 27 points to go along with 8 rebounds, Schmitter had 13 points and 6 boards, and Arvelo was in double-figures once again with 12.  It was the Dolphins' shooting that stood out on the stat sheet as they hit 44.4% of their shot attempts and 43.8% of their three-pointers.  The Cavaliers had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night hitting only 32% from the field and 25.7% from beyond the arc.

Next up for the Dolphins is a matchup with Baruch College on Wednesday night at 5:30.  That game will open a doubleheader as the men will face the Bearcats following the conclusion of the women's game.

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