The City College of New York women's basketball team (0-1 Overall, 0-0 CUNYAC) opened up its 2010-2011 season on Saturday evening with a loss, falling to the Farmingdale State Rams (2-0 Overall, 1-0 Skyline) by a score of 60-32 in the first round of the Dickinson College Tournament at the Kline Center in Carlisle, PA. With the defeat, the Beavers will now play in the consolation game of the tourney, as CCNY will battle Mary Baldwin College at 2:00pm on Sunday afternoon, while Farmingdale State University will play the host school, Dickinson College, in the championship contest at 4:00pm.
SUNY Farmingdale raced out to an early 7-0 lead just 2:18 into the contest, with the Rams' Natasha Smalls accounting for four of her team's first seven points with a jumper and a pair of free throws. Farmingdale would gradually build its lead, eventually taking its largest lead of the first session at the 6:40 mark, going up by a score of 24-7. The Rams kept control of the contest, heading into the locker room at halftime with a 29-16 advantage.
In the second half, SUNY Farmingdale would run away with the contest, extending its lead to as many as 30 points before finally solidifying a 28 point victory. Perhaps the biggest key to the victory for the Rams in the contest was the turnover differential, as SUNY Farmingdale forced 39 CCNY miscues while committing just 19 themselves. Following the game, Beaver head man Kevin Clifford gave his thoughts on the loss.
"It's early in the season, so the girls are working on trying to develop team chemistry and tonight, it was evident that we still have work to do to be where we want to be in terms of playing as a cohesive unit," Clifford said. "We have to learn how to minimize our mistakes and let the game come to us. We didn't do that this evening, but I believe we'll be focused and ready to play in this consolation contest tomorrow."
Despite the loss for the Beavers of the City College of New York, Massachusetts native Taryn VanEsselstyn nearly recorded a double-double, netting nine points on four-of-five shooting while snatching 10 rebounds and swatting four shots in 30 minutes of action. Veteran Simone Tharkur nailed five of her six free throw attempts, finishing with seven points and six rebounds.
In the victory for Farmingdale State, it was Jeanette Zubizaretta pacing her team with a game-high 13 points, as she connected on four of her six attempts from downtown. Natasha Smalls netted 10 points, grabbed six rebounds, recorded three blocks, and tallied two steals, and Shemique Hooks added seven points and five rebounds.
CCNY and Mary Baldwin will play in the consolation game of the tournament at 2:00pm on Sunday. Live stats for the contest will be available by clicking here, and keep it posted to www.ccnyathletics.com for a full recap of that game as the Beavers attempt to nail down victory No. 1 of its 2010-2011 season.