CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK New York, NY---An uphill battle offensively the entire contest, the No. 1 seeded Brooklyn College women's basketball team fell to the No. 3 seed College of Staten Island in the championship game of the CUNYAC tournament, 53-42, this evening. Brooklyn closes out the 2016-17 season with a 21-6 record. With the win, CSI earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Not the best offensive performance for either team, the Bulldogs were never able to get over the hump in the second half to really put the Dolphins on their heels. Both teams struggled from the charity stripe all evening long, shooting a combined 17-45 for the game. Brooklyn shot 26.3% from the field to CSI's 28.1% for the game. The difference makers in the game: CSI connected on ten (10-28) three-point attempts to the Bulldogs' two (2-18) and BC turned the ball over 24 times to the Dolphins' 16 giveaways.
Brooklyn was paced by senior forward
Olivia Colbert's double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds. Senior center
Maya Ajee-Thomas chipped in eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Using momentum from the end of the third period, the Bulldogs went on an 8-3 run to start the fourth to cut CSI's lead to four points on two separate occasions in the first five minutes of the fourth. CSI stopped the bleeding with a Victoria Crea three to push their lead back up to seven with just under five minutes to go in regulation. Brooklyn cut the lead to five before CSI closed out the contest by making six of eight from the free throw line to ice the game in the final minute.
After trailing by as many as 18 points early in the second half, the Bulldogs clawed their way back into the contest with a 9-0 run including an
Alexandra Moogan three heading into the final period. After a
Karen Mak made jumper to open the second half, the Dolphins responded with a 5-0 run to take a 31-20 lead with 8:48 remaining in the third period. CSI extended their lead to 14 points with a stop and a Samantha Flecker three-point make.
With both teams feeling each other out in the first five minutes of the contest, nerves played a role with sloppy play on both ends. The teams would trade baskets and the Dolphins grabbed a 7-6 advantage on a made three just before the first media timeout of the game. A
Maya Ajee-Thomas put-back gave the lead back to Brooklyn with just under four minutes left in the opening period. Back-to-back CSI three-point makes with just over a minute left in the period gave them a 13-10 advantage heading into the second. CSI's three makes from beyond the arc were the difference in the first.
After the teams traded baskets in the first minute of the second period, neither team managed a basket for almost three minutes. A Flecker three gave CSI an 18-12 lead with six minutes to go in the first half. Following an
Olivia Colbert make in the paint, a Flecker three banked in from straight-on extended the Dolphins lead to seven with 1:45 left in the first half. After an
Olivia Colbert make from the charity stripe, CSI guard Victoria Crea gave the Dolphins their largest lead of the half (9) with their sixth three in the first twenty minutes of play. Colbert split at the free throw line to cut the Dolphin lead to 26-18 at the half.
Despite shooting a better percentage than the Dolphins in the first half, the Bulldogs didn't manage a make from beyond the arc with six attempts. Turnovers also hurt BC in the first two periods, committing 13 to the Dolphins' seven.
CSI's Christina Pasaturo led all scorers with 16 points for tournament MVP honors.
