Buffalo, NY - The College of Staten Island Women's Basketball Team picked up a big conference victory earlier today as they won a thriller in the closing seconds against the D'Youville University Saints, 53-52.  The Dolphins are now 8-14 with the victory and improve to 4-8 in conference play.  The Saints fall to 7-12 on the season and are now an even 6-6 in conference play.

The Dolphins got off to a very slow start in the opening minutes and were forced to call a timeout behind 8-0 just two minutes into the opening quarter.  The Dolphins responded by scoring the next six points, four by Ashley Lambert, to pull to within two, but they only scored six points for the remainder of the period.  Three of the first four made baskets in the second quarter were three pointers, the third of which gave the Saints their largest lead of the game at nine points.  However, the Dolphins responded with an 12-2 run to take a one-point lead and went into the half trailing 29-27.

The Dolphins trailed by as many as six in the third, but the Saints were never able to extend their lead any further.  Trailing 38-34, the Dolphins went on a 7-0 run to take a three-point lead, but the Saints beat the buzzer on a three in the closing seconds of the period to go back ahead by two.  Remarkably, neither team scored a single point for the first 3:31 of the final quarter, a drought broken from the free-throw line by the Saints.  Starved for offense, the Dolphins turned to their leading scorer, Jenalyse Alarcon, and she delivered six straight points to put the Dolphins ahead by one.  That lead was short-lived and the teams were ultimately tied at 51 with two minutes to play.  The next points didn't come until there were only 19 seconds remaining in the game when the Saints took a one-point lead on a free throw.  On the ensuing CSI possession, the Dolphins found a cutting Alarcon for the go-ahead basket leaving the Saints with just one second to attempt a potential game-winner.  On the last possession of the game, a Stella Mollica three was blocked by Alarcon to clinch the Dolphins victory.

Alarcon finished the game with a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double and both Elizabeth Lofaro and Dana Pehlan also finished in double-figures with 10 points.  As a team, the Dolphins shot 41% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc while limiting the Saints to 30% from the field and from downtown.  Brianne Moxley scored 12 for the Saints and was just two rebounds shy of a double-double.  Sofie Fuglsang led the Saints in scoring with 13, her second double-digit scoring effort against the Dolphins this year.  The CSI win earns the Dolphins a split of the season series against D'Youville and evens up the all-time series at two game apiece.

The Dolphins took a huge step towards securing a spot in the East Coast Conference playoffs with a win in today's game.  The Dolphins maintain the sixth seed and their one-game lead over Molloy in the standings.

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