NEW YORK, N.Y.— The John Jay women's basketball team fought valiantly and etched out a victory in the end as the Bloodhounds beat the College of Staten Island (CSI) 67-64 at the Doghouse on Wednesday evening.
 
The win puts John Jay two games over .500 for the first time since the 2006-07 season as the Bloodhounds are now 9-7 on the season and 6-2 in City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) play. CSI is now 8-8 (5-2 CUNYAC).
 
Jamecia Forsythe once again filled the stat sheet with another tremendous outing. She connected on 10-of-17 from the floor for a team co-high 21 points to go along with a game-high 18 rebounds, four blocks and four steals. Victoria Story also had 21 points and added seven rebounds and four steals. CSI was led by Olivia Tierno with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
 
CSI led most of the first half and was up as much as eight in the stanza on four occasions. The visiting Dolphins led for good in the period with just under five minutes gone by after a lay-up that gave CSI a 12-10 lead in the initial stages of the contest.
 
The run sparked a 10-2 Dolphin run that put CSI ahead 22-14 with 10:42 to play. The Dolphins led by eight three more times, most recent as 6:31 to go when CSI was ahead 28-20.
 
But the Bloodhounds clawed away at the deficit and pulled to within one just before halftime as John Jay trailed 35-34 at the intermission.
 
The Bloodhounds carried the momentum into the second half and opened play on a 4-0 spurt to take a 38-35 lead.  The lead change was the first of a combined 10 times the lead would either change or the score would be tied in the second half.
 
CSI led 56-50 with just over six minutes to go before the Bloodhounds came with their final surge to take the lead and win. Back-to-back field goals by Forsythe, followed by a lay-up by Sherrice Marshall came during a 6-1 John Jay run to cut the Dolphin advantage to one point with 2:55 remaining.
 
The Dolphins went back up by thee on the ensuing possession, before a lay-up by Story with 2:10 to go cut the CSI lead back to one. The Dolphins went back up three, before Danielle Eagan connected on a three pointer with 1:20 to go to tie the game.
 
Then after an offensive foul, John Jay got the ball back and Story was awarded a pair of free throws, which she made, giving the Bloodhounds their first lead since the 8:05 mark.
 
Clutch foul shooting by Story, who was 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final 1:08 of the contest, allowed John Jay to hold on to the lead the rest of the way.
 
CSI had a chance to tie at the buzzer, but a three point shot came up short as John Jay earned the win, its fourth in the last five games.
 
John Jay returns to action on Mon. Jan. 21 for a home contest against Rutgers-Camden at 2 p.m.