Rams Ruin Lady Jays Upset Bid
Farmingdale erases 20 point lead to stay undefeated
Brooklyn, NY - The NYU-Poly women's basketball team built up a 20-point lead on undefeated Farmingdale in Tuesday night's Skyline Conference showdown. Unfortunately, for the Lady Jays the Rams Kimberly Blakney and Janette Zubizarreta both got hot in the second half and led the Rams to an impressive 88-80 comeback victory in the conference thriller.
Down 41-25 at the half, Farmingdale (19-0, Skyline 13-0) slowly creeped back into the game as Zubizarreta hit four three-point shots and Blakney recorded 23 of her game-high 30 in the second period. Zubizarreta finished with 21 points, including 6-for-8 from the arc.
NYU-Poly held on to its lead until the 4:38 mark when Juanita Chappel tied the game up at 65-65. Seconds later Kamaya Miller's free throw gave the Rams a 66-65 lead. The Lady Jays would regain a seven point lead highlighted by senior Damei Mahama (Kearney, NJ). Mahama scored on a drive to the hoop, was fouled, and converted her free throw putting NYU-Poly up by five, a minute later sophomore Margaux Pickell's (Howell, NJ) pair of free throws gave the Lady Jays a 75-68 lead with 3:22 to play.
With 2:07 remaining and NYU-Poly leading 75-74, a controversial foul was called on NYU-Poly as Blakney shot a three pointer. That was followed by a technical foul on the coaching staff, which sent Blakney to the line for five foul shots. She connected on four, putting the Rams up by 78-75. NYU-Poly was never able to regain the lead.
The first half was all NYU-Poly as sophomore Kristen Leitheuser (Millbrook, NY) racked up 14 of her team-high 27. She also finished with 17 rebounds. Pickell added 18 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Consuelo Aranda (Calexico, Mexico) recorded a game-high five assists. NYU-Poly shot a season-high 54% from the field, but was only 4-of-13 from the arc, while the Rams were 9-of-13. The Lady Jays commited 29 turnovers to Farmingdale's 15.
NYU-Poly (10-11, 6-9 Skyline) travels to Mount Saint Mary Thursday for another Skyline Conference matchup. Game time is set for 7:00pm.
