Knight Fall Comes In Second Half for Lady Eagles

Patchogue, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's Golden Eagles (2-17, 2-7 Skyline) recovered from a large first half deficit but ultimately couldn't keep up offensively in the second half with the Mount St. Mary's Knights (4-16, 4-6 Skyline) as they were defeated, 68-53, on Saturday afternoon in a Skyline Conference game.

Christina Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) led all Eagles scorers with 24 points, seven rebounds, and seven steals. Danielle Hamlin (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach) added 16 points, nine boards, and four blocks for the home team.

Mount St. Mary's Rachel Perrone finished with a game-high 26 points and eight rebounds leading the Knights to victory.

Both teams got off to sloppy starts with six turnovers in the first three minutes of play but just as the last time these two teams played, Mount St. Mary dominated the paint early, grabbing a 12-5 lead, forcing the Eagles to call a timeout and regroup with a bigger lineup on the court. The lineup was able to keep the Knights off of the boards but couldn't stop them from scoring at will on the inside as they extended their lead to 23-11 with eight minutes remaining in the half.

The Lady Eagles couldn't cash in from long range in the first half as they missed their first nine shots from beyond the arc while the Knights hit 3-of-4 from three-point range, opening up a 17-point deficit with four minutes remaining.  SJC shot 22% from the field in the first 16 minutes of the half. The Eagles were getting good looks at the basket but weren't getting the lucky roll on the rim, but that all changed with three minutes remaining as Danielle Hamlin  put down a jumper and two straight Mount St. Mary's turnovers led to a Christina Cohen three and a jumper by Jackie Zizzo (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) to cut the deficit down to 11.

Christina Cohen swiped a pass from Jessica Perrone and drilled a mid-range shot to cut the lead to nine. The Knights continued to turn the ball over on each of the next three possessions but the Eagles couldn't cash in, and still trailed by ten with a minute and a half remaining when Cohen hit another three-pointer to cut the deficit down to seven.

On the defensive end, the Eagles forced another turnover and Michelle Lupoli (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) cut the lead down to five and that's where SJC sat at halftime, down 33-28 after the rough start. Cohen led the Eagles with 12 points and six rebounds in the half, and Hamlin added eight points and five boards. Katie McGarrell (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) was relentless on the defensive end in the half, fueling the Eagles comeback.

The second half began the same way the first half did with several turnovers by both teams and few points, but the Knights finally started to distance themselves with baskets on two straight possessions to extend the lead to nine with 15 minutes remaining but on the ensuing possession Christina Cohen hit a layup, drew the foul and converted the free throw to cut the deficit back down to six.

The Eagles forced another turnover and Hamlin made them pay with a three-pointer to make it a one possession game. The Knights called a timeout and inbounded the ball, only to have it stolen by Christina Cohen and she charged down the court for a breakaway layup. A lead that was once at 18 for the Knights was down to one. After a two-point jumper extended the lead, Christina Cohen hit another three to tie the game at 45 with 13 minutes remaining.

The tie didn't last long as the Knights scored on the next two possessions to regain their lead, 49-45. Mount St. Mary extended their lead once again, leading by nine with seven minutes remaining when Nicole Scicutella hit a three with the shot clock expiring to put the Knights up 12.

The Eagles couldn't find their way out of the offensive hole, as they had only two points from the 12:08 mark to just under five minutes remaining and their opponent continued to pile on the points, matching their game-high lead at 18 with just two minutes remaining. After the valiant effort from the Eagles, clawing their way back from the large first half deficit, their effort wasn't enough to hold off the Knights.

The Lady Eagles travel to Old Westbury this Wednesday night for a Skyline Conference matchup.