Farmingdale State - 64, St. Joseph's-LI - 60
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Tied 60-60 with 53 seconds remaining, Farmingdale State sophomore guard Imani Butts (Brentwood, N.Y.) connected on a 3-pointer to give the Rams a three-point lead. FSC would add a late free-throw en route to the 64-60 win over Skyline Conference opponent St. Joseph's-LI tonight in Farmingdale, N.Y.
FSC (3-3, 1-1) connected on their first six baskets of the game as junior guard Jami Cardenas (Bay Shore, N.Y.) hit three 3-pointers to give the Rams a 15-3 advantage midway through the first quarter. The Golden Eagles (1-4, 0-2) responded with a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to one, 15-14, with 2:43 left on the clock.
Tied 20-20 with 8:21 left in the second, the Rams used back-to-back baskets by junior forwards Zaria Witherspoon (Queens, N.Y.) and Alexis Hunter (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to go out in front by four. After SJC-LI evened the score at 26-26 with 4:39 remaining, the Golden Eagles closed the half on a 6-2 run and took a 32-28 lead into the break.
Cardenas and junior guard Anna Zaborowska (East Patchogue, N.Y.) led the way for Farmingdale State with nine points apiece, while sophomore guard Alyssa Signor (Farmingville, N.Y.) scored 15 first half points on 6-of-7 shooting.
St. Joe's-LI recorded the first six points of the third quarter to open up their largest lead of the game at 38-28. The Rams answered with four straight baskets, including a pair of layups from Hunter, to close within two, 38-36, with 4:06 on the clock. Less than two minutes later, Zaborowska tied the game at 40-40 on a layup but SJC-LI answered with a Julianna Knice (Deer Park, N.Y.) layup and a 3-pointer by Signor to go up by five.
With 4:26 left in the game and Farmingdale State down by two, Butts connected on a 3 off the pass from Hunter to give the Rams a one point edge, 59-58. Two possessions later, the Golden Eagles regained the lead on a jumper from freshman guard Catherine Siounis (Greenlawn, N.Y.). On the next trip down the court for FSC, Hunter was fouled and hit 1-of-2 at the line to tie the score at 60-60 with 3:24 left on the clock.
Neither team would score for over two minutes until Butts hit the 3-pointer off the pass from Zaborowska to put the game out of reach and lead the Rams to their first conference victory of the season.
Zaborowska finished the night with a game and career-high 23 points and added seven rebounds and six steals, while Hunter tallied a double-double on 16 points and 11 boards.
For St. Joe's-LI, Signor notched a double-double on 20 points and 13 rebounds to go along with three steals and three rebounds.
Farmingdale State next will travel to Old Westbury for a conference game on Tuesday, December 3rd at 6:00 p.m.
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