Sarah Lawrence - 70; Farmingdale State - 62
BRONXVILLE, N.Y. | Junior forward Layla Mendoza (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) filled the stat sheet with team-bests of 27 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high six steals Saturday afternoon at the Campbell Sports Center for the Farmingdale State College women's basketball team, which fell in its Skyline Conference opener at Sarah Lawrence College by a 70-62 count.
Mendoza's six thefts doubled her previous career-high of three, which she accomplished a trio of times during her rookie 2021-22 campaign.
Sophomore guards Erin Conte (Melville, N.Y.) and Jenna Pignataro (Farmingville, N.Y.) tied career-highs with 11 points apiece, and each dished out four assists (a career-best for Pignataro) for the Rams (1-4, 0-1 Skyline). Freshman Victoria Kantzian (Staten Island, N.Y.) came off the bench to bury a pair of 3-point field goals, and has now knocked down 7-of-13 (.538) over FSC's last three contests.
Farmingdale State jumped out to a 16-4 lead less than six minutes into the contest against the host Gryphons (2-2, 1-1), and wrapped up the first period with a 23-9 edge after freshman Adrianna Romo-Leroux (Selden, N.Y.) buried a trifecta with 32 seconds left.
A 9-0 spurt early in the second frame brought Sarah Lawrence to within a 27-20 margin, before Pignataro's triple temporarily stopped the spurt coming out of a time out with 3:57 remaining before the break. After the Gryphons then netted the next nine points, Conte's free throw with under 12 seconds left gave FSC the 31-30 halftime lead.
SLC used a 25-17 third quarter in its favor to carry a 55-48 lead into the final 10-minute frame. From there, FSC pulled to as close as 60-57 when Pignataro fed Mendoza for a lay-in off an out-of-bounds play with 4:01 to go, but could get no closer than four the rest of the way.
Head coach Mark Dellecave's Rams are back in Skyline action Tuesday night (Nov. 22), when they play host to College of Mount Saint Vincent at 5:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to bring new, unwrapped toys to donate prior the contest for the FSC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's "Toys for Tots" drive in Nold Hall.