JAMAICA, NY --- (www.YORKATHLETICS.com) York College women's basketball outscored the visiting College of Staten Island Dolphins (5-7) in the final quarter Monday evening but were unable to overcome a second-half deficit, falling 64-50 inside York College Gymnasium.  

Kristina Sierra put the Cardinals on the board 2:29 in with a 3-pointer to tie the game, and 52 seconds later, a pair of free-throws by Ellma Hodzic gave York a 5-4 lead.  The Cardinals went up by as many as four in the first quarter as a Destiny Drummond layup made it an 11-7 game with 54 seconds left. Staten Island held a 12-11 lead at the end of 10 minutes of play ignited by a Denise Priolo triple and a Diana Todaro layup with five seconds remaining.  Playing with the lead for the final 30:05, Staten Island closed out the first half with an 8-2 spurt to stretch its advantage to seven (28-21) at the break.   

Staten Island opened the third period with 12-unanswered points to stretch its lead to a game-high 21 points (42-21) with 6:19 remaining in the stanza.  Diamond Jackson sank three-straight jumpers to carry York during an 11-0 spurt to get as close as nine (42-33) before the Dolphins went on an 8-0 scoring spree to end the third with a 50-33 advantage.  Staten Island built its lead back to 19 (55-36) at the 7:31 mark in the fourth. The Cardinals replied by putting together a 12-3 run to cut their deficit to 10 (58-48) capped by a Mac-Dege Dessources free-throw with 1:21 showing on the game clock.  The Dolphins outscored York 6-2 in the final 61 seconds to secure the road win.

Dessources posted her third-straight double-double (seventh of season) to lead the Cardinals with 15 points (5-of-11 FG) and 17 rebounds.  Drummond and Jackson both scored eight points off the bench as Cami Melson dished out four assists and poked away two steals while Hodzic nabbed three.  

Megan McEwan totaled 12 points (7-of-8 FT), nine assists and three steals to carry Staten Island to victory.  Off the bench, Priolo chipped in with 11 points and Todaro grabbed 11 rebounds.  

York hit on 33.3 percent from the field (20-of-60), 8.3 percent from 3-point range (1-of-12) and 56.3 percent from the free-throw line (9-of-16) as Staten Island connected on 33.8 percent from the floor (22-of-65), 32.1 percent from long distance (9-of-28) and 78.6 percent from the charity stripe (11-of-14).  The Cardinals won the battle of the boards, 47-41, scoring 18 second-chance points off 18 offensive rebounds. Both teams drew even in steals (7-7) and York outplayed Staten Island points in the paint (28-24) while the Dolphins held the edge in assists (18-16), blocks (2-1) and points off turnovers (24-12).  

The Cardinals (4-8, 1-2 CUNYAC) close out their five-game homestand Wednesday (Jan.8) at 5:30 p.m. with a CUNYAC matchup against the City College of New York Beavers (1-11, 1-2 CUNYAC) inside York College Gymnasium.

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