Dowling Women's Basketball Upends Dominican In Nailbiter

Courtesy of Melissa Perry, SID at Dowling College

Oakdale, NY The Golden Lions recorded their second victory of the season in a non-conference matchup as they defeated the NE-10's Dominican College 72-67. The Golden Lions were led by senior Heini Suokari (Lieto, Finland) who tallied a game high 17 points as she helped to improve Dowling record to 2-8 while the Chargers fell to 5-5.

The Chargers took a quick 15 lead in the first eight minutes of play as Danielle Dugan (Bayonne, NJ) scored her second basket to bring the score to 18-3. Dowling slowly fought back and found themselves trailing by only 5 points with less then three minutes left in the half. Dominican widened the gap adding seven points before the buzzer.

The Golden Lions picked up the pace in the second half and went on a 24-13 point run to bring the game within one point (49-50). With 10:20 showing on the clock junior forward Teelah Grimes (Middle Island, NY) tied the game at 51-51 off a layup. Over the next 9 minute, the lead teetered back and forth as the teams tied the game up four times. Jackie Tracy (Bronx, NY) broke the final tie (60-60) as she sunk both of her free throws. Dowling's Nicole Lippolis (Floral Park, NY) answered back with three consecutive three points and Grimes added two free throws to capture the final lead in the game. Shanasia Franklin (Uniondale, NY) sealed the win going 4 for 4 on free throws to end the game 72-67.

Lippolis (13) and Grimes (11) scored in the double digits as Suokari led both teams with 5 assists and Molly Tubridy (Broad Channel, NY) grabbed a team high 7 rebounds. Tracy led the Chargers with 17 points followed by senior Jillian Younghans with 16 points.