Mt. St. Vincent Dolphins Swim Past Lady Golden Eagles

Patchogue, N.Y. - St. Joseph's College women's basketball team nearly turned around a large deficit, but ultimately fell short to the Mount Saint Vincent Dolphins, 69-51, Saturday afternoon in a Skyline Conference game at the Danzi Center. Freshman forward Andrea Iavarone (Miller Place, N.Y./ Miller Place) tallied a second straight double-double after amassing 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Michelle Lupoli (Massapequa, N.Y./ Massapequa) splashed a baseline jumper to get it started for the Golden Eagles, but SJC would falter early as the visitors accrued a 22-2 lead.

Iavarone scored a basket inside the paint that was later trailed by a Jackie Zizzo (Bethpage, N.Y./ Bethpage) jump shot to stop the bleeding after the Dolphin's aggressive attack.

Mount Saint Vincent held a period high 21-point lead seven minutes into play.  The Lady Eagles started to creep their way back into contention after Meaghan Haber (East Northport, N.Y./ John Glenn) connected on a step-back field goal.

At 1:41, Iavarone completed a three-point play that was followed by Lupoli going 2-for-2 from the line after being fouled during a lay-up to cut the lead down to 16 points.  Mount Saint Vincent knocked down two free throws to finish the first half with an authoritative 35-17 lead.

The Dolphins came out fierce in the second, picking up where they left off, building their lead to as high as 26 points at 14:37.

St. Joseph's eventually shifted their offense into top gear, going on a 15-2 run that was capped by an impressive three-pointer by Haber as she was also fouled and sent to the line.  She converted the four-point play that cut the advantage down to 12 points.

With a little over two minutes, remaining Iavarone displayed her strength as she fought through a foul and scored a basket, while converting the "and-one," which chipped the lead to 11 points.

The visitors squashed the Golden Eagles comeback, finishing the game with a 9-2 run.

Other than Iavarone, SJC received double-digit scoring statistics from Zizzo and Haber, who pooled 12 points each.

Teddi Petre (Ronkonoma, N.Y./ Connetquot) distributed the ball well for the Eagles tallying four assists, while fighting down five rebounds.

Despite today's setback, St. Joseph's still has a chance for a post-season push, needing to win out their last two games while receiving help from other conference foes. SJC next contest will be against the Skyline Conference's first place team, the Farmingdale Rams, in Farmingdale, N.Y. on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.