#3 Mount Saint Vincent - 77, #6 Farmingdale State - 73
Riverdale, N.Y. - The sixth-seeded Farmingdale State women's basketball team traveled to #3 Mount Saint Vincent for the First Round of the Skyline Conference Championship this evening and fell, 77-73. The Dolphins advanced to the semifinals, while the Rams have been eliminated from the playoffs.
Leading 11-10 midway through the first quarter, the Rams (12-12) used an Anna Zaborowska (East Patchogue, N.Y.) 3-pointer and jumper by freshman forward Layla Mendoza (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) to go out in front by six. After back-to-back CMSV (18-5) baskets pulled the Dolphins within two, FSC answered with a layup by freshman forward Kalena Ricketts (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) and a Zaborowska jumper to go back up six, 20-14, with 1:42 left on the clock. Mount Saint Vincent closed the quarter with six straight points to even the score at 20-20.
Trailing 29-28 with 3:08 remaining in the first half, freshman forward Samantha Muller (North Babylon, N.Y.) and Zaborowska connected on back-to-back 3's to put Rams up by five. The Dolphins would add four late points as Farmingdale State took a 34-33 advantage into the break.
Zaborowska led the way with 11 first half points, while senior forward Dez Brown (Riverhead, N.Y.) had 10 points for the Dolphins.
Tied 43-43 late in the third, Mount Saint Vincent went up by four after a Catherine Amodio (White Plains, N.Y.) jump shot and Kayla Hanley (Yonkers, N.Y.) layup on their next two possessions. The Rams quickly answered with a Mendoza layup and pair of free-throws to tie the game at 47-47 with 2:02 left to play. CMSV outscored FSC 5-2 to close the third and take a 52-49 lead into the final quarter.
After a Muller layup cut the Farmingdale State deficit to 54-53 with 8:57 remaining, the Dolphins responded with a 10-0 run over the next 4:10 to go up by 11. Mount Saint Vincent led by at least four points the remainder of the game as they went on for the 77-73 win.
Zaborowska played the entire 40 minutes and finished with 23 points (7-for-10 3PT), a career-high eight assists and six rebounds, while Ricketts recorded a double-double with 16 points and a career-best 18 rebounds. Mendoza scored 21 points and had seven boards and Muller notched 13 points to round out the double-digit scorers for Farmingdale State.
For CMSV, Brown shot 11-of-14 from the field and scored a game-high 27 points.
#3 Mount Saint Vincent will now face #2 Merchant Marine (20-5) in the Semifinals on Thursday.
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