The College of Staten Island women's basketball team turned a tide this afternoon, undoing a string of 13-straight losses against Baruch College, leading from start to finish in a 79-64 victory over the Bearcats at the ARC Arena in Manhattan. The win lifted the Dolphins to a perfect 4-0 CUNYAC mark to go with an 8-3 overall mark, while Baruch fell to 7-3 overall and 4-1 in CUNYAC with the loss.
The win for CSI was their first against the Bearcats since the 2003-2004 season, a year that saw CSI defeat Baruch twice that year, with the second win coming in the CUNYAC postseason. Those two wins were part of 15-straight for the Dolphins in the series, but since then it has been all Baruch, as the defending CUNYAC champs have defeated the Dolphins by an average of 16.9 points over that same stretch. That was not the case today, as CSI led start to finish, most of the time by double digits.
The Dolphins started things off with an 8-0 run, ended with a
Megan Myhre three ball. After the teams traded baskets over the next four minutes, CSI used a 12-2 run spanning six more minutes to improve to a 29-13 lead, and from there, CSI was in business. Three-pointers by
Melanie Johnson and
Jamie Pifalo did a host of damage, as did a Johnson Lay-up in the run as well. CSI led by 16 on two other occasions while Baruch was able to get the lead down to 11 before CSI ultimately took a 43-30 lead into the lockers.
Both teams went back-and-forth in the second frame before an Alicea Ulmer basket and free-throws by Kristen Podlovits for BC was able to knock CSI's lead down to 51-44 with 10:47 to play. CSI responded, however, with an 11--0 run, aided by back-to-back Myhre three's and another by Galasso to finish the run. The run gave CSI its biggest lead of the game at 62-44. Baruch answered with an 11-2 run the other way, but after, the exhausted Bearcats were still down by 9, and CSI was able to capitalize again with a Myhre three and
Katelyn Hepworth basket to go up, 71-57, with exactly three minutes to play. The streaky play continued down the stretch, as BC was able to knock the lead back down to 9 before CSI ultimately prevailed by the 79-64 count.
CSI had four players in double figures, led by Hepworth's 19 points, while Johnson finished with 16 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Myhre finalized with 14 points while Galasso kept pace with 17 points and four assists. Baruch was led by Ulmer's 17 points and whopping 21 rebounds. Baruch out-rebounded CSI, 50-48, but shot a chilly 33.8% from the floor to CSI's 38.8%.
The Dolphins will continue their CUNYAC slate this week, hosting Lehman College on Tuesday, January 7 at 5:30pm.
