Farmingdale State - 88, St. Joseph's-Brooklyn - 79
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State women's basketball team earned an 88-79 victory over St. Joseph's-Brooklyn this evening. Freshman forwards Samantha Muller (North Babylon, N.Y.) (32) and Layla Mendoza (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) (31) combined for 63 points in the win for FSC. The Rams improved to 3-4 in the Skyline Conference, while the Bears dropped to 2-6.
FSC (5-5) started quickly as they outscored St. Joseph's-Brooklyn (2-9), 12-3, over the first five minutes.
Following a basket from the Bears, Muller scored five points in an 11-0 run as the Rams took a commanding 23-5 advantage.
St. Joseph's-Brooklyn trailed by 14, 32-18, with six minutes to play in the second quarter and used a 3-pointer from Jamie Provino (Harrison, N.Y.) to cut their deficit to 11.
After a Muller layup, another 3-pointer allowed SJC-BK to close within 10, 34-24.
The Bears were outscored, 14-11, over the final 4:30 of the half as they entered the break down, 48-35.
Muller led all scorers with 17 first-half points.
Leading 50-38 with eight minutes to play in the third quarter, Muller knocked down a 3-pointer and a layup on back-to-back possessions to put Farmingdale State ahead, 55-38.
The Rams held a 63-47 advantage and used a three-point play from Mendoza and a layup by Muller to go out in front, 68-47.
After a pair of free-throws from St. Joseph's-Brooklyn, Farmingdale State closed the quarter with 10 unanswered points to go in front by 29, 78-49.
Despite being outscored, 30-10, in the fourth quarter, FSC went on for the 88-79 Skyline Conference victory.
Muller shot 13-for-21 from the field for a career-high 32 points. Mendoza made 12 field goals and seven free-throws for 31 points, to go along with 10 rebounds and senior guard Anna Zaborowska (East Patchogue, N.Y.) tallied 10 points and had 12 assists which ranks fourth all-time at FSC for a single game. Junior guard Mackenzie Tierney (Levittown, N.Y.) added seven points, five steals, four assists and three rebounds, while freshman forward Kalena Ricketts (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) notched four points, five assists, three steals and six rebounds.
As a team, the Rams had 30 total assists, a mark that ranks third on the all-time list.
The women's basketball team next will play host to conference opponent Sarah Lawrence on Saturday, January 15th at noon.
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