St. Joseph's-Brooklyn - 67, Farmingdale State - 59
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State women's basketball team trailed by 14 points early in the fourth and cut the deficit to two but eventually fell, 67-59, in a Skyline Conference matchup with St. Joseph's-Brooklyn this afternoon.
Leading 8-7 with 2:43 left to play in the first, SJC-BK (16-8, 12-5 Skyline) sophomore guard Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) hit a layup and was fouled on the play. O'Donnell missed the free-throw but secured the offensive rebound and put back to complete the four-point possession and put the Bears on top, 12-7. St. Joe's-Brooklyn closed out the quarter with three consecutive baskets and extended the advantage to 18-7.
Over the opening three minutes of the second quarter, FSC (7-16, 7-9) outscored the Bears 7-2 to quickly cut the deficit to 20-14.
After a Samantha Wilber (Island Heights, N.J.) 3-pointer off the pass from Victoria Porcasi (Franklin Square, N.Y.) put St. Joe's-Brooklyn out in front 30-18 with 3:18 left on the clock, the Rams responded with a Nia Miller (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 3 and layup by sophomore guard Destiny Hurt (Long Beach, N.Y.) to close within seven. On the next Bears' possession, junior forward Lauren Quesada (Westbury, N.Y.) hit a layup before Farmingdale State scored the final five points of the quarter and went into the break down by four, 32-28.
Miller tallied 13 first half points on 5-of-12 shooting, while sophomore forward Alexis Hunter (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had five points and grabbed 10 rebounds. For SJC-LI, O'Donnell scored 10 points (5-of-11 FG) and Quesada had six points and 10 boards.
Trailing 43-36 with 4:59 remaining in the third, back-to-back layups by Miller pulled the Rams within three, 43-40. The Bears closed the quarter on a 5-2 run and entered the fourth leading by six points at 48-42.
St. Joe's-Brooklyn recorded the first four baskets of the final quarter and opened up their largest lead of the game at 56-42 with 7:32 left to play. Farmingdale State answered with a 14-2 run on eight points from Hurt and six by Hunter to cut the Bears lead to only two, 58-56, with 3:16 remaining.
SJC-BK held a 60-58 edge and used layups by Caitlyn Staab (Lynbrook, N.Y.) and Quesada followed by a Jamie Provino (Harrison, N.Y.) 3-pointer to go on top, 67-58 and seal the victory. FSC would add a late free-throw and fell, 67-59.
Miller led all scorers with a career-high 28 points and added four steals, four rebounds and three assists, while Hurt finished the afternoon with 16 points and four boards. Hunter, who is ranked 17th in the Nation for rebounding, recorded her 15th double-digit game of the season as she pulled in 21 boards and scored 11 points in the loss.
O'Donnell led the way for St. Joe's-Brooklyn with a double-double on 20 points and 16 rebounds to go along with a game-high five assists.
Farmingdale State next will host Mount Saint Vincent on Tuesday, February 12th for Senior Day at 5:30 p.m.
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