Coming off of one of their best wins of the season against Cabrini on Friday, The College of Staten Island Women's Basketball team will look to win their fourth game in a row when they take on the Bearcats of Baruch College tonight at 5:30. The 8-8 Dolphins will be looking to get over the .500 mark for the first time this year while the 11-3 Bearcats will be trying to stay perfect at home where they are 6-0.
CSI @ BARUCH COLLEGE AT-A-GLANCE
Matchup: College of Staten Island (8-8) vs. Baruch College (11-3)
Where: Arc Arena - New York, NY
Live Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6A-GojLPhtB8wsn8Uel4IQ
Live Stats:
https://athletics.baruch.cuny.edu/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
All-Time Series: CSI leads, 33-23
Last Meeting: February 16, 2019, CSI won 76-59 (2019 CUNYAC Tournament Quarterfinal)
Players to Watch (CSI): Megan McEwan is coming off of her best game of the year in which she scored a season-high 27 points in the Dolphins' win over Cabrini. That performance raised her team-high scoring average to 13.9 points per game, increased her shooting percentage to an even 36%, and raised her outside shooting percentage to 35.5%. The Dolphins have four other players averaging between 8.7 and 9.8 points per game,
Jada Rogers,
Kayla Schmitter,
Deidre Foster, and
Diana Todaro. All of them are shooting efficiently and are above 40% from the field. Foster has also added 7.3 rebounds per game second to only Todaro who has pulled down 10.1 per game to lead CSI.
Kristina Arvelo has also demonstrated the ability to get hot from the outside as her 28 three-pointers lead the team and her 85 attempts from downtown have accounted for over 2/3 of her field-goals attempted.
Players to Watch (BC): Nia Dawson leads the Bearcats with 19.3 points per game due in large part to her shooting from beyond the arc where she has connected on 35.6% of her shots. Melinda Spahiu is next in line with 13.3 points per game on an incredibly efficient 50% to go along with 7.6 rebounds per game. She also leads the team in assists with 49 and steals with 37. Frances Snyder and Sameera Ahmed are also averaging double-figures for the Bearcats as well and former Dolphin
Daniela Zirpolo leads the team in rebounding with 8.6 per game.
News & Notes: The last two games of the season for the Bearcats in 2018-2019 were played against the Dolphins, the first a win on a buzzer-beater in the teams' regular-season finale at home, and the second a loss in the CUNYAC tournament quarterfinals on the road at CSI. The Dolphins have graduated three starters from that game, but have gotten stellar play from their freshmen to help fill the void left behind by those players. The Bearcats lost two starters from that game, but the addition of Dawson has helped them immensely and is a big reason for their strong start to the season. The Bearcats are also 6-0 at the Arc Arena thus far this season and they will be looking to remain perfect on their home floor. The two teams come in with very similar shooting numbers on the year as they have both knocked down right around 39% of their shots and just shy of 32% of their three-pointers. On the glass, CSI owns a positive rebounding margin of nearly 4 per game with the Bearcats falling just short of even in that department.
What's Next?: Following tonight's matchup with the Bearcats, the Dolphins will return home this Saturday to face the Bloodhounds of John Jay College. Proceeding the 1 PM tip-off against the Bloodhounds, CSI will host their annual Alumni Game at 11 AM.
THE WALK WITH...
