Eagles Fly High in Skyline Win Over Poly Blue Jays

Patchogue, N.Y.—The St. Joseph's Golden Eagles (11-10, 5-5 SKY) were victorious against the NYU Polytechnic Fighting Blue Jays (6-13, 2-7 SKY) at home on Saturday, achieving their fifth conference win of the season.  Amanda Bender (East Northport, N.Y./ Northport) led the team in points with 23.

SJC put their first possession to good use as Christina Cohen's (Smithtown, N.Y./ Smithtown East) offensive rebound resulted in a made lay-up by Danielle Hamlin (Centereach, N.Y./ Centereach) twenty seconds into the game.  Hamlin struck again two short minutes later with a lay-up and a jump shot within seconds of each other, starting the Eagles off on the right foot with a six-point lead. 

The Blue Jays were quick to respond, tying the game at 6-6 and ultimately achieving a one-point lead with ten minutes left in the first half, but it was then that the Lady Eagles' outside game caught fire. Sparked by Christina Cohen's three-point jumper at 9:38, St. Joseph's became an unstoppable shooting threat with another three-pointer each from Bender, Hamlin, Christina and Laura Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y./ Smithtown East) before the halftime buzzer.  The Eagles walked off the court with a 41-33 lead at the half.

The gap only continued to widen in the last twenty minutes of the game as SJC fell into a rhythm.  Christina Cohen, Hamlin and Ashley Larrea (Medford, N.Y. / Patchogue-Medford) continued to drain three's while Laura Cohen and Bender proved to be ice on the free throw line, sinking five between the two of them in a matter of five minutes.  The Golden Eagles won with ease in an 84-48 victory.

The 34-point spread was truly a team effort as SJC dominated on both ends of the court.  Bender pulled down 14 rebounds in addition to her game-high 23 points.  Christina Cohen was close behind with 16 points, Laura Cohen added a solid 15 points and three rebounds while Hamlin contributed 14 points and 12 rebounds.  As a team, the Lady Eagles sunk 13 three pointers, shot 42.0% from the field and 78.6% from the foul line.

The Lady Eagles will travel to Farmingdale on Wednesday in an attempt to gain their next conference win against Farmingdale State.  They will return home on Saturday to challenge Sage in a 3 p.m. game which will be their final home regular season affair.