Merchant Marine - 69, Farmingdale State - 41
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Senior guard Kaleigh D'Arcy (White Plains, N.Y.) and sophomore center Lauren Hunter (Tinley Park, Ill.) each recorded a double-double for Merchant Marine as the Mariners earned a 69-41 Skyline Conference victory over the Rams this evening in Farmingdale, N.Y. The FSC women's basketball team dropped to 8-10 overall and 6-8 in the Skyline, while USMMA improved to 15-3, 12-2.
In the first quarter, Merchant Marine outscored Farmingdale State 21-7 after shooting 7-of-18 from the field and 7-for-9 from free-throw line. The Mariners held an 18-3 rebounding advantage, while holding FSC to 23% shooting (3-for-13).
After a Zaria Witherspoon (Jamaica, N.Y.) jump shot cut the Farmingdale State deficit to 23-11, USMMA followed with a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 29-11 with 6:43 left to play in the second quarter. On the Rams' next trip down the floor, senior guard Nia Miller (Brooklyn, N.Y.) connected on a 3-pointer but the Mariners answered with seven straight points to go out in front, 36-14. Merchant Marine would take a 39-18 advantage into the break as Hunter led the way with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first half.
Farmingdale State junior forward Alexis Hunter (Brooklyn, N.Y.) hit a layup to open the third quarter before the Mariners tallied the next 13 points to extend the lead to 52-20 with 4:42 on the clock. An Alexis Antonacci (Plainview, N.Y.) 3-pointer ended the 13-0 Merchant Marine run but the Mariners responded with six unanswered points to open up their largest lead of the game at 58-23 with 1:40 left in the third.
The Rams entered the fourth down 61-28 and outscored Merchant Marine 13-8 in the final quarter but fell, 69-41.
Miller scored a team-high 16 points and had three steals, while Hunter added 10 points and five boards for the Rams.
For USMMA, Hunter finished the night with a game-high 26 points on 10-for-16 shooting and had 10 rebounds and D'Arcy recorded 16 points, 10 boards and three assists.
Farmingdale State next will host Manhattanville in a conference game on Wednesday, February 5th at 6:00 p.m.
*****