OLD WESTBURY, NY --- (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) SUNY Old Westbury women's basketball opened their four-game homestand Saturday afternoon with a 106-53 Skyline Conference win over the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) Golden Eagles (4-7, 1-4 Skyline) inside Clark Athletic Center. Old Westbury (10-1, 5-1 Skyline) extended its head-to-head win streak to eight versus St. Joseph's.
Both teams combined to commit four early turnovers to contribute to a slow start before Destiny Marino drilled a 3-pointer to give Old Westbury a 3-0 lead 1:23 in. Following a Golden Eagle 3-pointer, Charlotte Renker's free throw with 7:51 remaining in the first quarter ignited an 11-0 Panther run. St. Joseph's scored four-straight points to chop its deficit to single digits (14-7) with 3:48 left. Old Westbury built its lead back to double-digits with a Renker free throw during a 23-3 Panther run to take a 46-19 advantage with four minutes showing on the first-half clock. Marino's 3-pointer with 6:14 left pushed Old Westbury's lead to 20 (39-19) as the Panthers played with a 20-point cushion for the final 26:14. Old Westbury outscored St. Joseph's by 22 points (27-5) in the second quarter to take a 52-31 advantage into intermission.
Old Westbury's lead grew to 40 in the third quarter and 50 for the final 7:19 in the fourth stanza. Phalan Smith's layup with 1:28 remaining in the game extended Old Westbury's lead to a game-high 55 points (106-51).
Renker scored a game-high 23 points to lead Old Westbury to victory. Marino followed with a season-best 22 points (8-of-10 FG, 5-of-6 3FG) to go with six assists and five steals. Monique Joseph totaled 16 points (7-of-13 FG), five steals and five assists. Bridgid McNeill pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds (six offensive) and added four assists and two steals to her statline while Tori Bellings went for five assists and five steals. Tyra Bellings contributed 10 points and six assists as Davida Warren chipped in with eight rebounds and a game-high two blocks off the bench.
Jennifer Gubell finished with 18 points to pace St. Joseph's while Andrea Iavarone scored 16.
In the end, Old Westbury connected on 56.4 percent (44-of-78) from the field, 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from 3-point range and 50 percent (10-of-20) from the free-throw line. By comparison, St. Joseph's hit on 29.5 percent (18-of-61) from the floor, 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from beyond the arc and 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the charity stripe. Old Westbury won the boards battle, 58-26, while scoring 24 second-chance points off 25 offensive rebounds. The Panthers converted 30 Golden Eagle turnovers into 31 points. Old Westbury held the advantage in assists (36-10), blocks (5-2), steals (20-7), fastbreak points (22-2), points in the paint (64-20) and bench points (35-6).
COLLEGE OF SAINT ELIZABETH EAGLES UP NEXT FOR THE PANTHERS: Old Westbury continues its homestand Tuesday (Jan. 9) against the College of Saint Elizabeth Eagles in non-conference action at 6 p.m. inside Clark Athletic Center.
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