Riverdale, NY - After a tough home loss on Wednesday, the College of Mount Saint Vincent's women's basketball team rebounded quite nicely in a rare Friday showdown. Despite a slow start, the Dolphins' dominant second half put the team over Skyline rival Sarah Lawrence College by the score of 74-65.
CMSV is now 6-8 this season.
The Dolphins start put them in an early double digit hole. Over the first 10 minutes of play, the team made just one shot on 16 attempts, good for three points. On the other end of the floor, the Gryphons' forwards had their way with an undersized CMSV team, with 14 of the team's 15 first quarter points coming in the paint.
The early goings of the second quarter were similar to the first, resulting in Sarah Lawrence seeing their lead reach 13 points. The Dolphins, however, flipped the game on its head, closing out the half in impressive fashion.
CMSV began to chip away at the lead, starting with an Amber Been layup off a strong pass from teammate Kayla Hanley. The team would then go on a 10-0 run to make it a one point game, with Been, Kira Villegas and Shania Wolfe-White all contributing on offense. The Dolphins would tie things up at 22, but a late surge from Sarah Lawrence gave the Gryphons a four point lead at the break.
There was a complete roll reversal to open the second half, all in favor of the Dolphins. CMSV outscored the Gryphons 28-12 in the third quarter, shooting 60% from the floor along the way. The Dolphins saw their lead reach 12 points, thanks in large part to Been, Hanley, Villegas, Wolfe-White and Melanieann Broderick - Maria Nardulli's starting five - who each scored baskets in the quarter.
The Dolphins carried their newfound momentum into the fourth, where they shot 54% from the floor and went nine of 13 from the charity stripe while also causing five turnovers. The team's tenacious second half effort on both ends of the floor propelled the Dolphins to a 74-65 victory.
Villegas, the senior guard, starred for the Dolphins on Friday night, scoring a career-high 26 points on 10 of 16 shooting, adding seven boards and six steals along the way. Been also finished in doubles figures, as the Bronx, New York native collected 21 points, six rebounds and four assists. Wolfe-White reached double figures for the third time this season while Hanley paced CMSV with six assists. Freshman Julia Angeles came off the bench and added three points, five rebounds, three blocks, an assist and a steal to the stat sheet.
With the victory in hand, the Dolphins are now 2-7 against the conference. They'll look for win number three this coming Tuesday against Farmingdale at home.
