#2 Old Westbury - 60, #3 Farmingdale State - 48
Old Westbury, N.Y. - In the semifinals of the Skyline Conference Women's Basketball Championship, #3 Farmingdale State traveled to #2 Old Westbury and fell, 60-48.
Trailing 16-13 early in the second quarter, FSC senior guard Kaelyn Ward (East Hampton, N.Y.) scored five straight points on a 3-pointer and a layup to put Farmingdale State (15-12) ahead 18-16.
With FSC still leading by two, 20-18, a jumper by Panthers (22-3) junior guard Monique Joseph (Elmont, N.Y.) tied the game with 3:53 left in the half.
Old Westbury would take a 23-22 lead into the halftime break and opened the third quarter with back-to-back layups to take a five-point advantage, 27-22. After a Ward 3 and an Alexis Antonacci (Plainview, N.Y.) layup tied the game at 27-27, the Panthers scored eight straight points to go ahead 35-27.
With Farmingdale State down 42-34, senior forward Essence Casey (Huntington Station N.Y.) would record four points to cut the Rams deficit to four, 42-38.
OW led 44-40 with 5:04 remaining and recorded four straight layups to go in front by 12, 52-40. After a Casey layup allowed FSC to close within 10, a free-throw by Old Westbury junior center Charlotte Renker (Mineola, N.Y.) and a layup from senior guard Destiny Marino (Howard Beach, N.Y.) gave the Panthers a 13-point lead with only 2:51 left.
Old Westbruy would go 5-of-8 at the free-throw line down the stretch as they earned the semifinals victory, 60-48.
Senior guard Liz Durchhalter tallied a team-high 12 points and five rebounds for the Rams, while Ward recorded 11 points and a game-high five steals. Casey and Antonacci finished with 10 points apiece in the loss.
Renker led the way for OW as she tallied game-highs in both points (16) and rebounds (22), while senior forward Bridgid McNeill (Bellmore, N.Y.) produced a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.
FSC was eliminated from the playoffs and finishes the season with a 15-12 record.
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