The College of Staten Island recently completed what was their final turn through the City University of New York Athletic Conference in 2019-20.  Leaving behind a tremendous wake as one of the CUNYAC's founding members, day-by-day we will be looking back at each of CSI's programs, notably the CUNYAC Championship teams spanning over 40 years in our spring CUNYAC retrospective entitled, "Remember the Legacy."  This historical look back will chronicle the amazing achievements of CSI athletics programs, complete with championships, milestones, and amazing performances.

Our next sport spotlighted will be Women's Basketball, a program that competed at the Division III level for nearly forty years after its introduction in the 1981-1982 season.  It didn't take long for the team to get their first taste of a championship as they won the CUNYAC title in just their second season of existence in 1982-1983.  However, the team lost in the CUNYAC Championship back-to-back seasons after that and would not return for six years.  The team would usher in the 90's with a trip to the CUNYAC Championship picking up a decisive win over Hunter College for the program's second title.  They would fall to Hunter in their next championship appearance two years later and would drop another title game to CCNY in the 1995-1996 season.  Though they suffered the defeat that year, the Dolphins became regulars in the title picture appearing in nine out of the next ten CUNYAC Championship games and winning four times.  It was after the last of these championship appearances in the 2005-2006 season that the program saw a ten-year absence from the CUNYAC title game, one that would finally come an end when the program captured its seventh and final CUNYAC Championship in 2016-2017.  Along with the CUNYAC postseason appearances, the team also appeared in the ECAC postseason numerous times winning a championship in the 2008-2009 season.
 
THE START
The College of Staten Island became a Division III member institution in the fall of 1977, and was a founding member of the CUNY Athletic Conference.  Four years later in 1981, the conference began sponsoring Women's Basketball as a championship sport with CSI among it's founding members.  In their inaugural season, the Dolphins were coached by Wes Meltzer and were joined by Lehman, CCNY, John Jay, Brooklyn, York, and Hunter as CUNYAC institutions to offer the sport during the 1981-1982 season.
 
THE FIRSTS
First Game:  December 2, 1981 vs. Kingsborough Community College – Kingsborough defeated the Dolphins 53-45
First CUNYAC Game:  December 5, 1981 vs Lehman - The Lightning defeated the Dolphins, 67-47
First Win:  December 15, 1981 - CSI defeated CCNY, 50-42.  This was also the program's first win against a CUNYAC opponent
First Coach: Wes Meltzer, who spent two seasons with the Dolphins.
 
ESTABLISHING A WINNING CULTURE - 1981-1985
Women's Basketball was no stranger to success during the infancy of the program as they posted winning records in each of its first three seasons, going a combined 41-19 overall and 11-6 against the CUNYAC.  This included the program's first conference championship in the 1982-1983 season when they defeated Hunter College, 80-73.  Maureen McCauley took home Tournament MVP honors following the Dolphins victory, their first of three consecutive appearances in the CUNYAC Championship.  The following year, they collected a program-high 16 wins under Head Coach Karen Lynch but lost to CCNY in the CUNYAC title game.  This would be the first of back-to-back championship matchups with the Beavers as the Dolphins were back in the title game in 1984-1985 under another new Head Coach in Reggie Magwood.  Once again, it was the Beavers coming away with the win as they outlasted the Dolphins and tournament MVP Angela Carter by five points for their second straight title.  This would not be the last time the two teams faced one another as the Dolphins and Beavers also met during CSI's first appearance in the ECAC Postseason. CSI won that game by five points to earn a spot in the championship game, but they would go on to lose to Manhattanville in what would go down as their only ECAC Postseason venture until 1997-1998. 
 
ABSENCE FROM THE TITLE PICTURE - 1985-1989
Having established themselves as one of the teams to beat in the CUNYAC during the program's early years, the Dolphins slowly slipped out of the title picture as the 1980's progressed.  After their CUNYAC Championship defeat at the hands of CCNY, the Dolphins wouldn't get out of the conference tournament's first round in any of the next four seasons.  Magwood departed following the 1985-1986 season, the season which saw the first of these four first-round exits.  He was replaced by Noreen Begley who coached the team for just one year.  In 1987-1988, new Head Coach Gerry Mosley was hired to lead a team that had won only six games in the previous two seasons combined.  The team won only ten games during the next two seasons, but despite their struggles, Jodi Fallick earned a Rookie of the Year nod in 1988-1989.  Despite the poor start to Mosley's tenure in terms of wins and losses, Women's Basketball would go on to reassert their presence near the top of the conference come the new decade in the 1990's. 
 
THE ROAD TO A SECOND CHAMPIONSHIP
The beginning of a new decade saw the Dolphins return to prominence in the CUNYAC as they opened the 1990's by finishing a season above the .500 mark for the first time in six years.  Their 13 wins that season included a 7-3 mark against the CUNYAC, but they would ultimately go on to lose in the conference tournament semifinals to CCNY.  Coming off a winning season and their deepest postseason run since 1985, the following year did not get off to a promising start.  The Dolphins would lose their first three games including a 16-point defeat against conference rival Hunter College.  However, the team would win 15 of their final 20 games on their way to another meeting with the Hawks in the CUNYAC Championship.  This time, it was CSI getting the best of Hunter as the Dolphins went on to win the program's second conference championship in blowout fashion, 71-46.  Mia Arcuri would become the third Dolphin to win Tournament MVP, April Owen would earn the first of three consecutive CUNYAC All-Tournament Team selections, and it appeared the championship win could be the first of many for the resurgent program.  

 

A BRIEF STAY ON TOP - 1991-1996
The 1991-1992 regular season saw the Dolphins replicate much of their success from the year before.  Two-time CUNYAC All Star Dina Fazzolari and eventual Player of the Year Owen helped lead the team to a 17-8 overall record that included seven wins in eight games against the CUNYAC.  Entering their first-round CUNYAC Tournament meeting with John Jay, the Dolphins had won their two regular season games against the Bloodhounds by a combined 25 points and were undoubtedly viewed as the favorite.  However, CSI suffered a heartbreaking end to their championship repeat aspirations as the Bloodhounds escaped with a one-point victory. 

Looking to rebound from the disappointing end to the prior season, CSI won only nine games in 1992-1993, but they did carry a 5-1 mark against the CUNYAC into the conference tournament.  After underperforming the year before, the Dolphins would earn a spot in the CUNYAC Championship with a win over York in the first of the tournament's two rounds.  This set up another one-sided affair between the Dolphins and Hawks with Hunter College getting the best of CSI this time around.  The two years following this defeat were tough on the program as the team won only a single conference game during the regular season before being bounced from the CUNYAC Tournament in the first round each year.  Led by All-Tournament Team selections Stephanie Bird and Darlene Lewis, CSI returned to the CUNYAC Championship in 1996 where they faced CCNY in the title game for the third time in program history.  Also for the third time, it was CCNY knocking off the Dolphins in the title game, but this time, the Dolphins had put themselves back in the championship picture to stay.

 

AN ANNUAL CONTENDER - 1996-2001
Following Mosely's exit after nine years at the helm, Eugene Marshall, Jr. would come on to lead the Dolphins in two of their most successful seasons in program history.  The first came in 1996-1997 when the team finished 22-6 including an 11-point victory over John Jay in the CUNYAC Championship.  Led by CUNYAC All-Tournament team nods Tara Gagliardo, Shermaine Smith and Tanisha Bell, CSI also punched a ticket to their first NCAA Division III Tournament with the win.  A 23-win Dolphins team would team return to the championship game the following year, but this time they were on the losing end of an 11-point contest against Hunter College.   Gagliardo returned to the All-Tournament team and was joined by sophomore Tracy Derevjanik.  The 1997-1998 season also marked CSI's return to the ECAC Postseason, but it was an early exit for the Dolphins as they lost to Mt. St. Mary in their first game of the tournament.  This defeat marked the end of Marshall Jr.'s two-year tenure as Head Coach, as he was doubling as CSI's Athletics Director, but the team's success had just begun.

After Marshall, Jr.'s departure, the longest-tenured Head Coach in the history of the program, Marguerite Moran, took over ahead of the 1998-1999 season.  It was an incredible run for the team beginning that year as they won no fewer than 18 games every season from that point through the 2005-2006 season.  Moran's first appearance in the postseason as Head Coach resulted in a loss to Hunter in the CUNYAC Championship for the second-straight year, but this would be the first of her many appearances in the conference title game.  Juniors Maureen Keag and Mary Giblin were named to the All-Tournament team that year with Gagliardo and Derevjanik returning as part of a formidable senior class the following year.  1999-2000 marked the first of consecutive 20-8 seasons, both culminating in CUNYAC Championship wins over Hunter.  Gagliardo was named tournament MVP in 2000 and Derevjanik also returned to the All-Tournament Team.  Courtney Aimetti earned the MVP the award in 2001 with All-Tournament team members Keisha Cook and Stephanie Valerio serving as integral parts of the championship repeat as well.
 
HEARTBREAK ON THE WAY TO A SIXTH TITLE - 2001-2005
The team would fail to make it back to the championship the following year but were right back in the title conversation for the four years to follow beginning in 2002-2003, the first of three straight seasons with at least 23 wins.  The Dolphins' first of four straight trips to the CUNYAC Championship game in 2003 saw them facing Hunter in the title game once again.  Having defeated the Hawks each of the last two times the sides squared off in the CUNYAC finals, the Hawks exacted some revenge picking up a one-point victory.  CSI would be back to face Hunter in the championship again the following season, and just as it did the year before, CSI's season came to an end with a crushing defeat, this time by two points in a last-second stunner.  In addition to their CUNYAC Championship appearances in 2003 and 2004, the Dolphins also appeared in the ECAC Tournament Championship.  Unfortunately, they dropped both of these games as well and were unable lessen the sting of back-to-back season-ending heartbreakers against Hunter. 

The championship victory CSI was looking for finally came in 2004-2005 after winning a program record 26 games.  Led by senior Jacclyn Rock, junior Kim Thompson and Tournament MVP sophomore Acasha Gordon, the Dolphins earned a third shot at Hunter and finally overtook the Hawks to win their sixth CUNYAC Championship in 2005.  For Rock, this served as a fitting end to a career which saw her graduate as the leading scorer and rebounder in the history of the program, and for the Dolphins it marked the beginning of a championship drought that spanned over ten years.
 
OUT OF ONE CHAMPIONSHIP AND INTO ANOTHER - 2006-2012

Looking to defend their conference championship in 2005-2006, the Dolphins were back in the CUNYAC title game that season.  Facing Baruch College, CSI suffered a disappointing blowout defeat in what would unexpectedly be the last conference championship appearance of Moran's tenure as Head Coach.  The team would suffer a losing season for the first time in over a decade the following year and surpassed the 20-win mark in each of the next two seasons, but their three trips to the CUNYAC Tournament each ended in the semifinals.

Despite the disappointment that came with premature exits from the CUNYAC Tournament, CSI did capture the program's first ECAC Championship in the 2008-2009 season defeating fellow CUNYAC member Lehman College, 75-71, behind 26 points from Nicole Estrada.  Senior Megan Sullivan, who averaged a double-double that season, was also key to the Dolphins' success and finished her career among the program's all-time leaders in rebounds.   This victory still stands as the program's lone ECAC Championship, but it failed to serve as the catalyst for another CUNYAC title run.  The team finished one game over .500 the next season and was eliminated in the conference semifinals once again.  Despite stellar numbers from Allie Shanahan, Olivia Tierno and Katelyn Hepworth in 2010-2011 and Nikki Fabozzi being named CUNYAC Rookie of the Year in 2011-2012, back-to-back losing seasons that ended in first-round CUNYAC Tournament exits marked the end of Moran's tenure.
 
RETURN TO THE CUNYAC CHAMPIONSHIP - 2012-2018
Inheriting a team with a combined record of 17-31 during the previous two seasons, new Head Coach Tim Shanahan took over in 2012 looking to lead the Dolphins back to the CUNYAC Championship for the first time since 2006.  His first season got the Dolphins back on the plus-side of the .500 mark at 16-12 in 2012-2013, but this season would come to an end one game shy of a CUNYAC Championship berth.  Behind CUNYAC Player of the Year Melanie Johnson's nearly 17 points and 8 rebounds per game, the 2013-2014 season saw the team improve their record to 21-8 earning Shanahan Coach of the Year recognition.  However, the program was still no closer to the CUNYAC title when their season ended in the conference tournament semis.  The following year, the Dolphins added a pair of freshmen who contributed double-digit scoring, eventual CUNYAC Rookie of the Year Christina Pasaturo and Second Team CUNYAC All-Star Victoria Crea, but once again, CSI  fell in the CUNYAC semifinals.  Crea was lost to an injury the following year, but Pasaturo was joined in averaging double-figures by fellow sophomore Samantha Flecker.  This saw the Dolphins increase their win total to 19, but the team still could not find their way past the CUNYAC Tournament semifinals.
 
It was in 2016-2017 that the Dolphins finally captured the elusive CUNYAC Championship that had evaded them for over ten years.  The team won 22 games that year season and boasted four double-digit scorers, the returning Crea, Flecker, Pasaturo, and junior Angelique Price.  Their matchup in the CUNYAC Tournament finals was with heated rival Brooklyn College, a team that had defeated them in their most recent meeting during the final week of the regular season.  However, the Dolphins remained in control of the game from start-to-finish with all four of their players who averaged double-figures during the regular season scoring at least ten points in the championship game as well.  This meeting would not be the last championship matchup between the two sides as both teams were right back in the CUNYAC Tournament finals the following year.  Trailing by 12 at halftime, CSI made a spirited comeback attempt in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs ultimately pulled away to deny CSI the repeat.  Pasaturo, who remains the program's all-time leading scorer, Flecker, who eclipsed the 1,000 career points mark, Crea, and Price all saw their careers come to an end with this defeat, and Head Coach Tim Shanahan likewise departed following the 2017-2018 season.
   
FINAL CUNYAC SEASON AND THE MOVE TO DIVISION II - 2018-2020
Ahead of the 2018-2019 season, Nicole Sarcone was hired as the team's new head coach taking over a team that had lost several of its key players following the conclusion of the previous season.  Despite this, the team easily managed to extend their streak of consecutive winning seasons to seven behind the emergence of returners Megan McEwan and Diana Todaro.  This earned the Dolphins another meeting with Brooklyn College in the CUNYAC Tournament, this time in the semifinals.  On their home floor, it was the Bulldogs picking up the victory sending the Dolphins home from the CUNYAC Tournament for the final time.

Following the 2018-2019 season, CSI announced their move to Division II which brought a tough early-season schedule along with it.  The Dolphins consequently began the season winless through their first six games, but they would go on to win seventeen of their final nineteen including eleven out of twelve against the CUNYAC.  This record against the conference would have been enough to earn them the regular season championship had they been eligible to do so, but the resilience and talent necessary to compete at the Division II level was on full display during the final 19 games of the year.  McEwan and Todaro earned CUNYAC All-Star recognition and the contributions of the freshman class provided a great deal of optimism that the program will continue their winning culture through their second year in NCAA Division II.
 
REMEMBER THE LEGACY
First Season:  1981-1982 
All-Time Record:  598-405 (.596)
All-Time CUNYAC Record:  322-113 (.740)
CUNYAC Postseason Championships: 7 – 1983,1991,1997, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2017
NCAA Division III Tournament Appearances: 5 –  1997, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2017
Hall of Famers:  Jacclyn Rock (2012), Nicole Estrada (2014), Tara Gagliardo (2016), April Owen (2018)

Cover Photo from Left to Right:  April Owen, Jacclyn Rock, Christina Pasaturo