STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The D'Youville University women's basketball team suffered another close defeat on Sunday, falling to the College of Staten Island 61-54.
 
Senior Anna Jankovic (Averill Park, N.Y.) had a big day on the boards, grabbing a team-high 15 rebounds, and led the Saints in scoring with 10 points. Freshman Allie Hall (Rochester, N.Y.) had a solid showing, scoring a career-high nine points and grabbing seven boards. Freshman Samantha Ruhlman (Warren, Pa.) was clicking beyond the arc, making a team-high three pointers.
 
Jankovic got the scoring started with a layup and then Hall converted a close-range jumper to make it 4-4. After senior Sofie Fuglsang (Oberanven, Luxembourg) put in a mid-range jumper, DYU trailed by one midway through the first quarter. Staten Island extended their lead to 13-8, but layups from Hall and junior Morgan Giancaterino (Orchard Park, N.Y.) brought the Saints back within one with 1:13 to go in the quarter. The Dolphins would increase their lead back to five as the quarter came to an end, however.
 
Giancaterino converted a three-point play early in the second quarter to keep DYU within five. However, five straight points from Staten Island put them ahead by 10. Ruhlman knocked down a three-pointer and Jankovic put in a layup to trim the deficit back down to five with 3:37 remaining until halftime. Giancaterino put in a layup in the closing seconds of the quarter and the Saints headed to the locker room trailing 30-22.
 
A couple of layups from Jankovic made it a 32-26 deficit early in the third quarter, but five straight points by the Dolphins made it an 11-point hole for the Saints with 5:44 left in the period. DYU continued to hang with CSI, as Ruhlman drained a three-pointer and redshirt sophomore Megan Fedor (Elmira, N.Y.) converted a layup to bring it back to a six-point game with 4:12 to go in the third quarter. Fedor later cashed in on a three-point play and the game headed to the fourth quarter with Staten Island leading 45-38.
 
Hall knocked down a layup to keep it at a seven-point margin in the early stages of the fourth quarter. An ensuing 7-2 run sparked by layups from Hall and Giancaterino brought the Saints within two as the score stood at 49-47 with 3:45 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins knocked down a three-pointer to put them ahead by five, but Fuglsang responded with a mid-range jumper to cut it back to three with 3:08 to go. Fuglsang then made a layup to keep DYU within three 2:21 remaining. However, CSI scored five straight points to go ahead by eight with a minute left to go. DYU could not overcome the deficit and went on to lose 61-54.
 
D'Youville falls to 2-7 (0-2 ECC) with the defeat and will head home to face conference rival Mercy University at the Saints Center on Friday.