The Women's Basketball team hosted the nationally ranked Onondaga Lazers on Saturday afternoon. Both teams went into the match-up with undefeated records in Region III play.
The Lazers started out quick, with an 8-5 lead. Abigail Lombardoni drilled a three to take the lead 14-11 and the Lady Raiders would not trail for the rest of the contest. FMCC would close out the first quarter with a perfectly executed play and Mary Ellen Querrie would sink a jumper at the buzzer to lead 22-13.
FMCC would dominate the 2nd quarter and go on a 16-3 run over the final 5 minutes to lead 50-25 at the half.
Onondaga bounced back in the third quarter outscoring the Raiders 24-14 and cut the deficit to 15 points.
In the final quarter, Alima Goodwin converted on a lay-up to give her squad a 73-57 lead. Kiya Marquez and Sarah Emanuel-Norwood paced the Raiders down the stretch for the 86-65 win.
"The win was a huge way to end the semester against a nationally ranked team. We have been playing well together and still have a lot of work to do in the second half of the season. I really enjoy coaching this group," said Heach Coach Kevin Jones.
FMCC had four players in double-figures. Marquez led with 25 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Andie Gannon collected another double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Lombardoni had 18 points and 9 rebounds and Emanuel-Norwood collected 14 points.
The Lady Raiders are now ranked 9th in the NJCAA DIII National Poll. They finish the first half of the season with a 5-0 record. They now enter the mid-semester break and will be back in action on January 7th when they take on Hostos on the road.
