Staten Island, NY - The College of Staten Island Women's Basketball team is itching to get back on the basketball court. After a year of much dismay, the Dolphins team will look to make waves in their first official year against Division II opponents in the East Coast Conference (ECC) as they enter their third and final provisional period. Thus, CSI will not be eligible for the postseason at the end of this season, however, the Women's Basketball team is looking forward to the challenge. Entering her fourth year with the Dolphins, Head Coach Nicole Sarcone is more than excited to play a full year of Division II basketball, but more so excited for the players she has coming into this season. "I have very high expectations for this group of young women for the upcoming season. This group brings a variety of strengths to the floor including athleticism, shooting capabilities and IQ, however, I am most excited to see how their extremely strong bond off the court carries over to live play", said Sarcone who has an overall record of 36-16 at CSI and a 12-4 CUNYAC record. This will be here first year coaching a full Division II opponent schedule in the ECC.
 
The Dolphins last played in 2019 where they played against mostly Division III opponents in the CUNYAC while entering their first provisional year as a DII program, finishing their season with a 17-8 overall record. CSI played five games against DII opponents, including two ECC member schools, in 2019. Though, CSI lost all five games, CSI had their taste of what DII competition will look like. A pandemic later, alongside a suspended 2020-21 season and CSI is now in their third and final provisional year as an ECC member school playing a full DII opponent schedule.
 
They will kick off their 2021-22 campaign in a Conference Challenge Tip-off Tournament sponsored by TLC Physical Therapy and Jersey Mike's at home in the Sports & Recreation Center this Saturday, November 13. Three teams will visit the Dolphins home court. First on Saturday, at 5:30 PM your CSI Dolphins will battle the Wildcats of Wilmington University, then at 7:30 PM the Ravens of Franklin Pierce University will face the Tigers of Holy Family University. The tournament will wrap up on Sunday, November 14 with Franklin Pierce taking on Wilmington at 1:00 PM and CSI battling it out with Holy Family at 3:00 PM. All games can be found live on CSI SportsNet or in-person at the Sports & Recreation Center, however, fans please be sure to view and follow our winter spectator policy HERE when entering our facilities.
 
The Dolphins bring back two players from the 2019-20 roster, lone senior Lola Plamenco and Sophomore Kristina Arvelo. Plamenco played two seasons with the Dolphins before the pandemic halted play, she came off the bench for CSI and though averaged less than ten minutes per contest she is a career 44% shooter from three-point range, including over 50% during the 2019-20 season. Arvelo played in only one season and was a vital part of the Dolphins rotation playing in 22 games (started 11) and averaged eight points per-game. This year, CSI brings in eight new faces, six of which are freshmen and two are sophomores, who would have played last season, will all see their first action on the court this season. "I think it is safe to say that all of the players, and the coaching staff, are beyond excited to finally get back on the court after such an extended lay-off. Their energy and competitive nature is contagious and makes me excited to be back in the gym every day for practice. This is a special group of players with an extremely high ceiling who are bound to do great things this season!" Said Sarcone when asked about their excitement of the start of the season. Coming back to alongside Sarcone is Assistant Coach Kelsey Carey who has been with her from the beginning. Carey hopes to instill the same discipline, work ethic, scoring and rebounding prowess she had as a player into the young CSI unit as they prepare to embark on a Dolphins future in Division II Women's Basketball.
 
A couple of weeks ago, the ECC posted their yearly pre-season polls for the 2021-22 Women's Basketball season. Daemen College was number one in the ECC pre-season poll, followed by Roberts Wesleyan. The full story can be found HERE. It comes to no surprise that CSI came in at tenth out of the ten ECC member schools since this is their first year playing a full ECC DII schedule and will not qualify for the playoffs this season. However, expect CSI to compete as mentioned by Sacron, they have size in 6-1 Freshmen Brianna Moore alongside seven guards and forwards who are 5-7 or over with a mix of athleticism, shooting, slashing and defense.