Washington, D.C. - The College of Staten Island Women's Basketball Team earned the first Division II postseason win in program history earlier tonight as they defeated the Firebirds of the University of the District of Columbia by a final score of 84-73. In her first playoff game, Jenalyse Alarcon set a new career scoring high with 34 points and 10 rebounds without leaving the floor for the entire 40 minutes. The Dolphins also set a new single-game high in points for the season with 84. The team will travel to Amherst, N.Y. for the conference semifinals where they will take on No. 1 seed Daemen University on Saturday.
The Dolphins got off to a very rough start in the opening quarter allowing the first eleven points of the game. This prompted a mass substitution by the Dolphins, and from here CSI slowly began to chip away at the UDC lead. Alarcon opened the scoring for CSI and registered the first four Dolphins points. She would go on to score eight in the quarter, and the Dolphins pulled to within five, 19-14, with 32 seconds remaining in the period. However, Destiny Ryles knocked down a half-court buzzer beater to send the Firebirds into the second leading by eight, 22-14.
Alarcon continued her strong effort in the second and quickly scored another seven points to pull the Dolphins within one. Kaia Johnson, who also finished the game with a double-double, gave the Dolphins the lead for the first time at the free-throw line with just over four minutes to play until halftime. Alarcon extended the lead to three with another make at the rim, but the Firebirds recovered behind the scoring of Latavia Jackson to pull back ahead. In the closing seconds before halftime, Amaya Jenkins put the Dolphins in front by one sending the game into the intermission with CSI leading 31-30.
Jackson opened the second-half scoring for UDC, but the Dolphins proceeded to hit back-to-back threes, one by Ashley Lambert and another by Elizabeth Lofaro. From here, the Firebirds would get as close as one, but they would never lead again in the game. Lofaro and Lambert would go back-to-back from beyond the arc a second time later in the quarter, and Gia Esposito connected on another CSI three just moments later. The Firebirds would score the last four points of the quarter, but the Dolphins maintained a six-point advantage heading into the final period.
After scoring the final two baskets of the third, the Firebirds struck first in the fourth to make it a four-point game. The Dolphins once again responded and went back ahead by nine, but UDC would cut the lead to four a second time with just inside six minutes to play. This would be the final time the Firebirds got that close as the Dolphins were able to pull away behind six straight points from Alarcon. The Dolphins closed out the victory from the line and earned an 84-73 win in their first East Coast Conference playoff appearance.
The 34-point effort for Alarcon marks the first time she has surpassed the 30-point mark this season, and the double-double was her seventh. The double-double for Johnson was her first of the year and five Dolphins scored in double-figures to help the team surpass 80 points in a game for the first time this season.
The No. 5 seed Dolphins will travel to Amherst, N.Y. this weekend where they will play the No. 1 seed Daemen University Wildcats on Saturday. Daemen University will be the host of the East Coast Conference Women's Basketball Championship semifinals and finals. If the Dolphins defeat the Wildcats on Saturday, they will take the court in Amherst a second time on Sunday in the East Coast Conference Championship.
Provided by the Staten Island Sports Information Department.
