Brooklyn, NY - The College of Mount Saint Vincent's woman's basketball team traveled to St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn for their first playoff game since the 2016-17 season. The Dolphins were looking to continue to shock the conference and make a run in postseason play after being picked to finish eighth in preseason polls.

The first half certainly did not start the way the Dolphins would've liked it to. The Bears started the game on an offensive tear as they scored 14 consecutive points before CMSV could get on the board. The Dolphins would finally get their first bucket when DarNeisha Brice knocked down a tough layup to bring the deficit to 12.

The struggles would continue from there as the offense of St. Joe's stayed hot throughout the entirety of the first quarter, as the Bears shot 68% from the floor over the first 10 minutes of play. While things would balance out in the second quarter (CMSV outscored SJCBK 14-13), the early struggles put the Dolphins behind 41-27 going into the locker rooms. 

The duo of Aria Rheams and DarNeisha Brice were the biggest reasons why the Dolphins were able to stay in the game. Rheams would go on to score 13 first half points while grabbing five boards and Brice added 12 points of her own. 

The game became a tale of two halves. By the time the third quarter rolled around, the Dolphins found success on both ends of the floor and were able to build enough mometum to make things close. As a team, the Dolphins converted seven of their 19 shot attempts and went six of seven from the charity stripe, with nine points coming off turnovers.

The clutch play would continue well into the fourth quarter, with Brice hitting big shot after big shot to tie things up and Hanley giving her team their first lead of the game after knocking down one of two free throws at the two minute mark. Unfortunately for CMSV, the Bears would convert key free throw attempts to complete the victory. 

Brice completely her collegiate career with a team-high 29 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Rheams notched yet another double double with 18 points and 11 rebounds while Gabriela Goldman shot 50% from beyond the arc which was good for nine points while Victoria Hanley and Kira Villegas combined for 12 points of their own. 

The Dolphins may have come up short in 2020 but the future is bright in Riverdale. They'll look to regroup and continue trending in the right direction come 2021.