Merchant Marine - 65, Farmingdale State - 62
Kings Point, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State women's basketball team traveled to Merchant Marine this afternoon for a Skyline Conference game and fell, 65-62. The Rams dropped to 8-8 overall and 7-2 in the conference, while the Mariners improved to 11-3, 7-2.
After FSC senior guard Liz Durchhalter (Franklin Square, N.Y.) knocked down a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game, Merchant Marine used an 8-0 run, including four points from senior guard Tichina Carmon (Greenville, N.C.), to take a five-point lead only 3:58 into the contest.
Farmingdale State would tie the score after recording the next five points as senior forward Essence Casey (Huntington Station, N.Y.) hit a 3 and junior guard Alexis Antonacci (Plainview, N.Y.) stole and layed the ball in.
Tied 18-18 after the first quarter, Durchhalter was fouled and hit a pair at the line before Ward hit a 3-pointer to put FSC ahead, 23-18.
The Mariners would answer by scoring the next 11 points of the contest to go out in front 29-23 with 3:35 remaining in the half.
After Farmingdale State senior guard Kaelyn Ward (East Hampton, N.Y.) hit a jumpshot to cut the deficit to four, a layup by USMMA sophomore forward Shelby Peters (El Dorado Hills, Cali.) and two free-throws by Carmon extended the Mariners advantage to eight, 33-25.
Merchant Marine would take a seven-point lead, 35-28, into the halftime break.
The Rams opened the third quarter with five straight points to pull within just two, 35-33.
Trailing 40-34 after a 5-1 run by the Mariners, three straight Antonacci layups allowed FSC to tie the game at 40-40 with 2:41 left in the third.
Tied 48-48 with seven minutes remaining, back-to-back 3-pointers by Durchhalter and Casey gave Farmingdale State their largest lead of the game, 54-48.
USMMA would counter as they used a 9-0 run to go ahead by three, 57-54.
After Antonacci knocked down a 3 and Casey hit a layup to put the Rams ahead by two, a 6-0 run by Merchant Marine, including four free-throws by sophomore guard Kaleigh D'Arcy (White Plains, N.Y.), gave the Mariners a 63-59 advantage with 11 seconds left.
Antonacci would tally another 3-pointer with three seconds left to cut the deficit to one, but it was not enough as USMMA senior guard Gabrielle Salazar (Memphis, Tenn.) went 2-for-2 at the line to seal the 65-62 victory.
Antonacci finished with a team-high 20 points, while Ward and Durchhalter produced 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Merchant Marine was led by Carmon's game-high 26 points, including 12-for-12 at the free-throw line, and Peters' 16 rebounds and two blocks.
Farmingdale State next plays on Monday, January 22nd as they travel to St. Joseph's-Long Island for a Skyline Conference game at 7:00 p.m.
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