Women’s Basketball Opens Season With Strong Win Over Fisher

Lady Bears Basketball travelled to Boston, MA on Saturday to kick off the 2008-09 campaign and defeated the Fisher College Falcons by a score of 65-48.  St. Joseph's improved to 1-0 and Fisher College fell to 1-2 on the season.

SJC took control of the game from the outset with efficient shooting from the floor and a tough press which caused the Falcons to commit 20 turnovers in the first half.  However, a late surge from Fisher at the end of the half cut the deficit to single digits at 33-24 at halftime.  The second half proved to be a repeat of the first half with the defensive pressure creating 10 steals for the Lady Bears and coupled with 55.6% shooting from the floor extending the lead by as many as 24 at one point.

St. Joseph's was led by sophomore forward Allison Kavanagh(Queens, NY / Mary Louis) who had a career-high, game-high 26 points and added a team high five rebounds, three assists and two steals.  Kavanagh was impressive offensively shooting 12 for 14 from the floor on a combination of elbow jumpers and strong drives to the hoop that left the Fisher defense stymied.  Freshman point guard Ashley McQuillan(Brooklyn, NY / St. Francis Prep) had a strong showing in her first collegiate appearance, scoring 16 and dishing out 5 assists.  Veterans Melissa Velez (Queens, NY / Mary Louis) and Julia Serewko(Queens, NY / Mary Louis) also made strong contributions with 13 and 8 points respectively.  Fisher was led by Tiffany Beckman (17 points) and Jessica DiCicco (15 points) and Kianesha Dennis (14 rebounds).

The Lady Bears return to action on the road on Wednesday night against College of Staten Island.  Tip off is scheduled for 6:00 PM.