Old Westbury Clips Lady Eagles

Old Westbury, N.Y. – The Lady Eagles' (12-11, Skyline 6-6) playoff push got tougher with a,70-57 loss to the Lady Panthers of Old Westbury (15-9, Skyline 9-4). St. Joseph's sits one game behind Farmingdale St. (9-11, Skyline 7-5) for the final playoff spot.

It was a low scoring affair to begin the first half. It took 5:30 for the first team to reach double-digits, an Old Westbury layup by Deandra Scott. An Amanda Bender (East Northport, N.Y. / Northport) free gave St. Joseph's double figure scoring and cut the Old Westbury lead to just five. Two minutes later a Christina Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y. / Smithtown East) layup reduced the lead to just one. However, Old Westbury kicked it into high gear and went onto a 14-3 run over the next four minutes to extend the league back to 12. St. Joseph's was able to keep the deficit manageable and went into the locker room down 35-24.

St. Joseph's came out of the break determined to take the lead. They finally did with 14:27 showing on the clock as an Amanda Bender layup gave the Lady Eagles a 40-38 lead. However, Old Westbury's defense stepped up and held the Eagles to just five points over the next eight minutes as they built up a 16 point lead. St. Joseph's was never able to recover and the Panthers cruised to the victory.

Bender scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Laura Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y. / Smithtown East) chipped in with 13 points. Danielle Hamlin (Centereach, N.Y. / Centereach) pulled down 10 rebounds.

The next game for the Lady Eagles is a crucial matchup against the Sage Gators (7-15, Skyline 4-8) on Thursday at 5 p.m. The women need a win to tie Farmingdale for the final playoff spot.