St. Joseph's-LI - 83, Farmingdale State - 69
Patchogue, N.Y. - Senior forward Andrea Iavarone (Miller Place, N.Y.) tallied 37 points and 27 rebounds leading St. Joseph's-Long Island to a Skyline Conference victory over Farmingdale State on Monday evening, 83-69. The FSC women's basketball team fell to 8-9 overall and 7-3 in conference play, while the Golden Eagles improved to 5-10, 2-6.
Trailing by nine, 20-11, with 9:24 left in the second quarter, Rams senior guard Kaelyn Ward (East Hampton, N.Y.) knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to just three.
After St. Joe's-LI countered with a 12-5 run to increase their advantage to 10, 32-22, FSC scored nine straight points to close within just one with two minutes remaining in the half.
Farmingdale State and the Golden Eagles would head into the break tied 35-35.
Down by two early in the third quarter, SJC-LI used three straight layups to take a four-point edge, 45-41.
Leading 49-46, a pair of Iavarone layups increased the Golden Eagles advantage to seven, 53-46.
FSC senior forward Essence Casey (Huntington Station, N.Y.) would outscore St. Joe's-LI 8-2 over the final 3:39 of the quarter as the Rams entered the fourth trailing by just one, 55-54.
Iavarone totaled 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting in the third quarter alone.
Over the first 4:20 of the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles outscored Farmingdale State 13-3, including seven points from Iavarone, to open up an 11-point lead, 68-57.
After the Rams cut the deficit to 68-61 on four straight points by Ward, an Iavarone layup and free throw put the Golden Eagles ahead by 10 with 3:05 remaining.
St. Joseph's-LI led by at least eight points the rest of the way as the earned the Skyline Conference victory, 83-69.
Farmingdale State was led by Casey, who registered team-highs with 29 points and 13 rebounds, and Ward, who recorded 23 points, seven rebounds and a game-high four steals.
Iavarone shot 14-for-26 from the field and 9-of-14 at the free-throw line en route to her 37 points, while junior guard Alicia Indence (Centereach, N.Y.) and senior guard Jennifer Gubell (Levittown, N.Y.) added 15 and 13 points, respectively, in the win.
The Rams next travel to Old Westbury on Thursday, January 25th for a Skyline matchup at 6:00 p.m.
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