STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Looking to get above .500 for the first time this season, Post University Women's Basketball hit the road to face the College of Staten Island on Wednesday night against a Dolphins team mired in a five-game losing skid. After trailing for most of the game, the Eagles would come back from down 11 points with 3:35 remaining and use senior forward Roxkel Washington's layup with four seconds left to complete the comeback and get above the .500 mark for the first time this season with an epic 67-66 victory over Staten Island.

THE BASICS

Post University 67, College of Staten Island 66

Post University (6-5) 
 
College of Staten Island (5-8)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Graduate guard Trinity Bravo got things started with a three-pointer for the Eagles to give them the lead and graduate guard TiJanae Simmons would follow suit to help Post take the lead back moments after a 4-0 run from Staten Island, 6-3. But from there on out, it would be all Dolphins as they regained the lead behind four straight points from junior guard Kaia Johnson and senior guard Ashley Lambert, 8-6, before never trailing again. Although a tightly contested first quarter, Post would only be able to pull even once more in the first half after junior guard Naj White hit back-to-back shots to tie it at 19 all. Sophomore guard Dana Phelan's stepback three gave Staten Island the lead back, 22-19, after one and gave her a team-high eight points in the first.  
 
With eight minutes left in the second, graduate guard Dede Stevenson's jumper, her first points of the affair, made it a one-point game before a 7-0 run by the Dolphins, which was ended with two more from Stevenson, helped them take an eight-point lead, 31-23. During the stretch which saw Staten Island take firm control, Stevenson scored eight straight Eagles' points over the course of 6:15 in the frame which was halted after graduate forward Taina Pagan hit a free throw with 1:21 left in the half. The eight-point advantage for the Dolphins would be maintained heading into the halftime locker room, 38-30.  
 
As a team, the Eagles shot 13-of-34 from the floor (38.2%) and hit 3-of-10 three-point shots which all came in the first quarter. Following a 55.6% shooting performance in the first (10-of-18) for the Dolphins, they would go cold in the second as they shot just 4-of-16 (25%) overall and made 1-of-8 threes. The difference maker for them would be in the free throw category as they hit 7-of-10 attempts in the frame compared to just 1-of-2 for Post.  
 
Out of the break, the lead would continue to grow for Staten Island as they began the third quarter on an 11-4 run over the first 6:44. However, the run also featured an over three-minute scoring drought from both sides four missed shots, two missed free throws, and three turnovers between the two teams. Nonetheless, the Dolphins opened up a lead at 15 points on three different occasions and held an 11-point lead, 53-42, heading into the final 10 minutes.  
 
Throughout much of the fourth quarter, the Dolphins' lead seemed intact as they led by 11 points with 3:35 remaining before Bravo hit a pair of free throws and then by eight with 2:03 to go after a free throw from sophomore guard Kyra Rose, 62-54. That would be where the tide turned in the game as graduate shooting guard Maya Klein who had been held scoreless in 18 minutes on the floor hit a big three and was fouled with 1:49 to cut into the lead four after making the free throw. A steal by Stevenson led to another basket by Pagan and following a miss from the Dolphins, Klein tied the game up at 62 with 1:06 left in regulation which was the first tie in the game since 19-19 in the first quarter. 
 
A layup from Johnson following a Staten Island timeout gave the Dolphins the lead back by two, but a three from Stevenson with 21 seconds to go gave Post their first lead since 9-8 in the first, 65-64. Another punch back by Staten Island's Rose with 12 seconds left threatened to allow the Dolphins to hold on for the win until Washington hit a clutch layup with four seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Staten Island would rush down the court and be unable to get a shot off as the Eagles completed the improbable 11-point comeback to win, 67-66, and move to 6-5 on the season.

BY THE NUMBERS 

• After scoring a career-high 30 points against Bloomfield College, Maya Klein was held to six points in 20 minutes on the floor with all six coming in the final two minutes of the comeback win 
• Dede Stevenson led the way for Post University with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting – Stevenson has scored double-digit points in four of the last five games as well as six games overall this season  
• Naj White reached double-digit scoring for the second straight game and fourth time this season, finishing with 10 points in the game – White fell just short of her season-high which was 12 points against Southern New Hampshire University  
• Post University is now 2-0 all-time against College of Staten Island, beating them in their first head-to-head matchup, 88-58, during the 2021-22 season  

Post University returns to the Drubner Center on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM for a big conference matchup against Holy Family University. The Tigers are currently ranked eighth in the D2CSC East Region Poll and have won 13 consecutve games after dropping their first game of the season. Last season the two teams split their regular season matchups and then the Eagles would get a 60-57 upset victory over the Tigers in the CACC Semifinals on the campus of Jefferson University.