Gators Chase Women's Basketball in Skyline Showdown

Written by Joshua Soto (SJC-LI Sports Information) 

Patchogue,NY| The St. Joseph's College women's basketball team (3-10, 1-4 Skyline) droped a 62-44 decision to The Sage Colleges on Saturday afternoon inside the Danzi Center. The Gators improve to 11-2 and remain undefeated in the Skyline conference with a 7-0 record.

Sage came out the gates hot with an 18-4 run in the first quarter, over which SJC's Caroline Gehring recorded three of the Golden Eagles' four points. St. Joseph's had a better start to the second quarter with help from Andrea Iavarone, who scored the first  four points of the quarter to pull SJC back within 10 (18-8) at the 8:33 mark. The Gators ran away with an 11-0 run to extend their lead to 33-12 with 1:05 left in the half before taking a 35-14 lead into the break.

The two teams traded baskets for the majority of the third quarter, and Sage led by as much as 27 points, 46-19, after a made layup by Krystyn Knockwood with 2:16 left in the quarter. After several exchanges of possession, the Golden Eagles ended the quarter with a 4-0 run but still trailed the Gators 48-24.

St. Joseph's began the fourth with an 8-0 run cutting its deficit to 16 (48-32) with 5:32 left in the game. The Gators answered with a 9-0 run to pull away 57-32 with 3:24 left in the game. SJC completed the game with a 12-5 run, but remianed down 62-44 at the final buzzer.

Iavarone finished the game with 12 points and seven rebounds, and Rynese Smith added  10 points and eight rebounds and five steals.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Tuesday, January 12 when they welcome Skyline rival Farmingdale State to the Danzi Center for a 6:00 PM tip-off. Live stats will be available here.