Gators Chomp on Shorthanded Eagles

Albany, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's Golden Eagles (0-9, 0-1 SKY) dropped their ninth straight to start the season against the Sage Gators (5-4, 2-0 SKY) on Saturday as the five players that dressed for the Lady Eagles ran out of steam in the second half on their way to a 63-43 Skyline Conference defeat.

The Gators wasted no time getting their feet wet against the Eagles as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead, but Christina Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) hit threes on back-to-back possessions to pull even. The Eagles kept going back to the hot hand of Cohen after the Gators regained the lead 11-8. Cohen then hit another three to once again even up the game. Sage began to pull away late in the first half as they led 26-17, but Cohen hit her fourth three of the first half to send the Eagles into the locker room down six.

Sage did a great job of containing Christina Cohen in the second half who scored 12 of the Eagles 20 points. She was shut down for the first eleven minutes of the half but Katie McGarrell (Selden, N.Y./Newfield), Laura Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) and Danielle Hamlin (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach) picked up the slack. The Gators had opened up a thirteen point lead when McGarrell was fouled on a made layup and completed the "And-1". On the next possession Hamlin drilled a three-pointer to bring the Lady Eagles back within seven. The Eagles defense began to slow down as all five starters could have used a few minutes on the bench leading to the Gators 10-0 run to put them up 17. Sage ran away with the game in the last eight minutes, leading by as many as 23. Christina Cohen hit her fifth three-pointer of the game as time expired to make the score more respectable but the Eagles still seek their first victory.

Christina Cohen led the Eagles with 19 points, four steals, two assists, two rebounds and a block. McGarrell turned in a stellar performance with nine points and thirteen rebounds. Laura Cohen had a game-high fifteen rebounds to add to her six points. Hamlin filled the stat sheet with seven points, seven rebounds, four steals, four blocks, and two assists. Jackie Zizzo (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) shot 1-of-7, following her best game of the season against Richard Stockton, but she still contributed with a great defensive effort to go along with two points, and three boards.

The Lady Eagles return home this Wednesday to take on Old Westbury at 7:00 p.m.