BUFFALO, NY – The No. 5 seed College of Staten Island women's basketball team earned a thrilling 60-55 comeback victory over No. 4 seed D'Youville University in the opening round of the East Coast Conference (ECC) Tournament on Wednesday night. After trailing throughout the first half, the Dolphins surged in the final two quarters to upset the Saints and advance to Saturday's semifinal round.

The Dolphins could not find their footing offensively in the opening half, scoring in single digits in both quarters and entering halftime facing a 34-17 deficit.

Racky Kane sparked the comeback early in the third quarter, cutting into the lead with the opening basket of the half. Although the Saints briefly extended their advantage to 20 points, the Dolphins responded behind the efforts of Arielle Barnes, Kane, Shonyae Edmonds, Kyra Rose, and Giuliana Dito. The deficit was trimmed to 12, 43-31, before Dana Phelan knocked down a three to make it 46-36.

After D'Youville pushed the lead back to 12 at the free-throw line, Phelan drained another three on CSI's final possession of the third quarter to bring the Dolphins within striking distance heading into the fourth.

CSI carried that momentum into the final frame, opening with a 5-0 run to pull within four, 48-44. Dito continued her hot shooting with another three-pointer to make it 49-47, and Rose tied the game at 49-49 with a pair of free throws. Rose then gave the Dolphins their first lead of the night, 51-49, with just over five minutes remaining.

Dito later buried her fourth three-pointer of the contest to extend CSI's lead to six, 56-50. The Saints battled back to pull within one, 56-55, with under a minute to play, but the Dolphins executed down the stretch and scored the game's final points to seal the 60-55 upset.

Dito led CSI with 15 points, knocking down four three-pointers while shooting 5-of-10 from the field. Rose recorded a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Edmonds and Barnes each added 11 points, with Edmonds grabbing nine rebounds and Barnes contributing two blocks.

After going without a three-pointer in the first half, the Dolphins were perfect from beyond the arc in the second half, shooting 7-for-7 to fuel the comeback victory.

The College of Staten Island women's basketball team will return to action Saturday in the ECC semifinal round against top-seeded Daemen University. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 PM.
 

GAME REPLAY