Second Half Comeback Leads Rams Past Mount Saint Vincent

Farmingdale State - 69, Mount Saint Vincent - 68

New Rochelle, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State women's basketball team continued their pursuit of perfection this weekend with a 69-68 win over Skyline opponent Mount Saint Vincent. The Rams improved to 18-0, 12-0 in the Skyline Conference, while the Dolphins fell to 10-8 overall, 7-5 in conference play.

Farmingdale State fell behind early, trailing Mount Saint Vincent 24-9 midway through the first half. The Rams pulled within 15 at the 3:56 mark, before Mount Saint Vincent closed the half on a 10-0 run, extending their lead to 48-23 at the break.

Trailing 54-32 with 13:29 remaining in the game, Farmingdale went on a 17-0 run over the next 4:43 to pull within five. A layup and free-throw by senior forward Courtney Heesemann (New Hyde Park, N.Y./New Hyde Park) put the Dolphins ahead 61-54 with 7:17 to play. A quick 7-0 Farmingdale spurt, highlighted by a Kimberly Blakney (Brooklyn, N.Y./Benjamin Banneker) three-pointer, evened the game at 61-61. Trailing 66-65 with 2:19 remaining, the Rams forced a turnover and converted it into two points as senior guard Tiffara Steward (Elmont, N.Y./Sewanhaka) hit a jump shot, giving Farmingdale a 67-66 lead. After a Mount Saint Vincent timeout with 28 seconds to go, Blakney forced a turnover and was immediately fouled. She converted at the free-throw line, putting the Rams on top 69-66. Senior guard Lauren Percodani's (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) three-point attempt with two seconds remaining was no good, Jill Brady (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) grabbed the offensive rebound for the Dolphins and hit a jumper as time expired; however, they fell one point short.

Blakney, who played all 40 minutes, scored a game-high 24 points, had 11 rebounds and four steals. She was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. Steward added 11 points, shooting 5-for-6 from the field.

Mount Saint Vincent was led by Hessemann who had a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Percodani shot 63% from the floor and was second on the team in scoring with 15 points.

Farmingdale State has over a week off until they travel to NYU-Poly for a Skyline Conference game on Tuesday, February 9th at 6:00 p.m.

*****