Farmingdale State - 64, Sage - 49

Old Westbury, N.Y. - In their first game of 2017, the Farmingdale State women's basketball team earned a 64-49 Skyline Conference win over Sage this afternoon in Old Westbury, N.Y. The Rams forced 38 turnovers and held the Gators to 30-percent shooting in the victory.

Leading 13-9 entering the second quarter, FSC (5-3, 4-0) opened with a Charnae Jenkins (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) 3-pointer and back-to-back layups from Essence Casey (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Tyra Harrison (Baldwin, N.Y.) to extend the advantage to 20-9.

After Sage (6-5, 3-2) cut the deficit to 23-15 with 5:24 remaining, the Rams used a 10-0 run capped off with a 3 from Meghan Cleary (East Meadow, N.Y.) to go ahead, 33-15. Farmingdale State took a 15-point lead, 36-21, into the break after forcing 25 first half turnovers.

With 3:51 left in the third and Sage down 50-33, the Gators converted a layup followed by back-to-back 3's to quickly close within nine, 50-41. In a low scoring fourth quarter, FSC outscored Sage 11-5 to earn the 64-49 win and improve to 4-0 in Skyline play.

Sophomore forward AJ Smith (Freeport, N.Y.) recorded a double-double with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting and 10 rebounds, while Harrison finished with 13 points and four assists. Junior guard Kaelyn Ward (East Hampton, N.Y.) had game-highs in both assists (6) and steals (7) for Farmingdale State.

The Gators were led by senior guard Frankie Pearson's (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) team-high 16 points and nine boards.

The Rams next will travel to Mount Saint Mary for a conference game on Saturday, January 7th at 1:00 p.m.

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