Riverdale, NY - The College of Mount Saint Vincent's women's basketball team faced the Yeshiva University Maccabees in a win or go home game in front of a packed out Peter Jay Sharp Center on Saturday evening. Both teams played a back and forth battle going down to the wire, but the Dolphins eventually pulled ahead and finished on top by a score of 51-45. 

The victory placed the team in the Skyline Conference postseason for the third consecutive season. 

In the first quarter the Dolphins found themselves trailing 8-2 early, with the deficit eventually reaching 11-3. Maria Nardulli's team didn't back down, and instead went on a improbable second quarter run to set the tone for the rest of the game. The Dolphins strung together an impressive 20-7 run in the second, reversing the ties and entered halftime with a 23-15 lead.

The pair of senior guards Kira Villegas and Amber Been were driving forces behind the run. Villegas had 14 points, while Been put on a show in the biggest game of the year with a double-double consisting of 12 points and 10 rebounds of her own.

The Dolphins never looked back after halftime as they led the rest of the game. To the credit of the Maccabees, they continued to battle and did make it interesting in the fourth quarter, with the game constantly being within one score. The Dolphins eventually pulled away with help from their impressive 42% shooting percentage from the floor in the final quarter, in addition to stellar defense to help possess the lead and take home the victory.

Melanieann Broderick also helped the Dolphins leave with a victory by grabbing nine boards (eight defensive) and added four points to her stat line.

The Dolphins wrapped up the 2022-23 season with an overall record of 11-12 and conference record of 7-11. CMSV is set to take on Mount Saint Mary College in a first round matchup in Newburgh this coming Tuesday. 

CMSV Sports Information intern Connor Pietrowski is the author of this article