#4 Mount Saint Vincent - 86, #5 Farmingdale State - 67
Riverdale, N.Y. - In the opening round of the Skyline Conference Women's Basketball Championship, fifth-seeded Farmingdale State traveled to #4 Mount Saint Vincent this evening and fell, 86-67.
The Dolphins (18-8) jumped out to an early 12-5 advantage but FSC (14-12) used a Liz Durchhalter (Franklin Square, N.Y.) layup and 3's from both Kaelyn Ward (East Hampton, N.Y.) and AJ Smith (Freeport, N.Y.) to take the lead, 13-12, with 4:55 left in the first. The Rams extended the advantage to 19-16 late in the quarter, before MSV closed with five straight points to take a two-point lead.
Over the first 4:28 of the second quarter, Mount Saint Vincent outscored Farmingdale State 14-4 to go ahead, 35-23.
The Dolphins led 37-27 with 2:40 remaining in the half and used an 8-0 run capped of by a Brittany Carroll (Staten Island, N.Y.) 3-pointer to extend the advantage to 45-27. Mount Saint Vincent took an 18-point lead, 49-31, into halftime as freshman forward Dez Brown (Riverhead, N.Y.) led the way with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting for the Dolphins. Smith scored 14 points (3-for-4 from behind the arc) for Farmingdale State in the first half.
The Rams opened the second half with Durchhalter hitting 1-of-2 at the free-throw line and two straight Smith layups to cut the deficit to 49-36. MSV quickly responded with 6-1 run to regain their 18-point advantage with 7:31 left to play in the third.
With 6:14 remaining in the third and Mount Saint Vincent on top 57-42, a 15-0 Dolphins run extended the lead to 72-42.
FSC outscored MSV 23-12 in the fourth quarter but fell, 86-67.
Smith led all scorers with 21 points, while junior forward Essence Casey (Huntington Station, N.Y.) added 11 points for the Rams.
Senior guard Christina Barone (Staten Island, N.Y.) tallied 12 points, a game-high nine assists and six rebounds for Mount Saint Vincent. The Dolphins had five double-digit scorers in the victory.
The Rams were eliminated from the playoffs and finished the season with a 14-12 record.
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