PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – In its final tune-up before the Skyline Conference Championship tournament, the Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team (9-16, 4-8 Skyline) fell to St. Joseph's College (L.I.) (6-18, 3-9 Skyline), 48-44, Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles scored the first points of the game 31 seconds into the first half, and never squandered the lead from that point forward. After a defensive opening half, the Golden Eagles took a 25-14 lead into halftime.
The halftime lead was as large as it got as the Knights battled their way back into Saturday's contest. After St. Joe's took a 34-25 lead, senior forward
Natalie Candarelli (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) made a jumper, and then senior guard
Lauren Romao (Brick, N.J.) drained a three after a turnover to get the Knights back within four.
Later in the half, the Knights cut the deficit to just a point at 41-40 with 6:26 to play. Andrea Iavarone scored the next four points for the Golden Eagles to put them up by five, but the Knights cut it back to one with 1:33 left after freshman forward
Bridget Kelly (Farmington, Conn.) made a pair of free throws. Iavarone then hit another jumper to put the home team up by three, and the Knights were unable to score on their next two trips down the court. Iavarone made one-of-two free throws after being fouled to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable four-point lead with just 19 seconds left. The Knights were given two more chances to score in the final seconds, but were unable to convert before the buzzer sounded.
Iavarone scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the home team in both categories. Katie McGarrell came off the bench to contribute 11 points and five boards, while Teddi Petre filled up her stat sheet with four points, six assists, seven rebounds and three steals.
Romao went 4-of-7 from three-point range en route to a team-high 14 points on Saturday. Kelly just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine boards. Candarelli added nine points and four rebounds.
Neither team had a spectacular shooting game, as the Knights held a slight edge with a 30.2 field goal percentage (13-of-43), while the Golden Eagles made 29.5 percent (18-of-61) of their shots. 29 turnovers cost the Knights many opportunities in Saturday's game, though they only led to 13 points for the Eagles.
The Knights now prepare for their Skyline semifinal-round matchup with top-seeded Farmingdale State College, which finished the season with a perfect 12-0 record in Skyline play. The playoff game is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 26, in Farmingdale. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
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