Sage Gators Bite Eagles Late to Hold On for Win

Patchogue, N.Y. — The Lady Eagles (2-16 ,2-6 SKY) fell to the Sage Gators (11-7, 6-2 SKY) 67-59 in their matchup Saturday afternoon.  The outcome of the painfully close game was hard to swallow as the Eagles played some of their best basketball of the season. Danielle Hamlin (Centereach, N.Y./ Centereach) scored a game-high of 23 points for St. Joseph's.

The Eagles trailed the Gators for the entire first half, but certainly not by much.  By halftime, the Eagles had successfully frazzled the visiting team—who had beaten them by nearly 20 points earlier in the season—by cutting the Gator lead to only two points.

Hamlin tied the game at 32 less than 30 seconds into the second half with a jump shot and then officially shot the Eagles into the lead with another jumper within the minute. From that score on the game was point-for-point as each team attempted to maintain intensity and capitalize on the other's mistakes.  Excessive fouls eventually got the Eagles into trouble and allowed the Gators to break away late in the game.

In addition to her 23 points Hamlin also ripped down 13 rebounds, dished off two assists, grabbed two steals and had one block. Laura Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y./ Smithtown East) logged ten points, Christina Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y./ Smithtown East) had nine points and both finished with five rebounds each. Katie McGarrel (Selden, N.Y./ Newfield) was a defensive force with nine rebounds in addition to her four points. The Eagles shot 43.8% from the three-point line, 34.7% from the field and 66.7% from the free throw line.

The Golden Eagles will travel to New York, N.Y. to challenge Medgar Evers College at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.