The women’s basketball team got blown out by Long Island rivals Nassau County Community College in a 73-36 defeat in the Brookhaven Gymnasium Thursday night.
After losing on Saturday to Borough of Manhattan Community College, the Sharks have now fallen to a 1-16 overall record with two games left in the season.
The Sharks struggled in the beginning. The Nassau Lions started off aggressively and sped the game up. “We tried to slow down the game. Nassau did a good job trying to speed us up and we fell into it in the first quarter,” Suffolk Head Coach Rebecca Levy said. “I tried to call an early timeout and settle it. It didn’t work.”
The Lions went on a 20-0 scoring run to start off the game, and the Sharks did not score a single point until 3:31 in the first quarter. Suffolk struggled with turning the ball over, finishing the game with 33 turnovers, many coming in the first quarter. The first quarter ended with the Nassau Lions up 33-2.
“I think I would like to replay that first quarter. I think there were a number of things that contributed to the loss. Really, the first quarter set the tone for it,” Levy said.
After the turbulent first quarter, the Sharks tightened their game in the second, starting out 4-0, playing much more physically and forcing multiple turnovers. With help from Alexandra Madrigal and Aaliyah Shorter, who each put up 10 points, the Sharks managed to outscore Nassau 14-9 in the second quarter.
“We started following the game plan a little bit better, we calmed our nerves. We took a second to think before we did something,” said Levy. “Luckily after the first quarter, we were able to settle and slow back the game.”
Despite the Sharks’ efforts, the Lions eventually expanded their lead in the second half, shooting 50% from field goal range and 47.1% from the three-point line.
Nassau would outscore Suffolk 31-20 in the second half and seal the deal with a 37-point margin of victory over the Sharks.
“We could’ve easily rolled over after the first quarter, and we didn’t,” Levy said. “We continued to fight, and we’ve pretty much done that every game of the season. And that’s all that I could ask of them.”
