Lady Bears Defeat Albany Pharmacy to Advance to HVWAC Championship

BROOKLYN, NY - Senior Melissa Velez (Queens, NY/Mary Louis) scored a game-high 25 points and sank four free throws in the final 0:28 to lead #3 St. Joseph's to a 64-60 win over #2 Albany College of Pharmacy in the first semifinal of the Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference Tournament at Pratt Institute.  With the win, the Lady Bears avenged a 36 point loss to the Panthers on the road earlier this season.

Velez netted two 3-pointers to give the Lady Bears an early 10-2 lead.  Albany Pharmacy slowly erased the deficit and gained their first lead of the game at 18-17.  The Panthers extended their lead to seven, their largest of the game, with two minutes remaining in the half.  A late triple from Caitlyn Kakavas (Queens, NY/St. Agnes) pulled the Lady Bears within three, but a free throw from Amber Batzold sent Albany Pharmacy into the lockers with a 32-28 lead.

The Lady Bears utilized a pressure defense that forced 16 second-half Panther turnovers that gave St. Joseph's back the lead at 44-43 with 13:10 left, and would not trail for the remainder of the game.  The Lady Bears extended the lead to six on several occasions, but could not pull away from Albany Pharmacy as the Panthers kept hitting big shots to remain within reach.

A putback from Julia Serewko (Queens, NY/Mary Louis) with 1:23 gave the Lady Bears a 59-54 lead, but Albany Pharmacy responded with a 3-pointer from Kelly VanValkenburgto pull within two.  Serewko hit 1-for-2 from the line on the next possession and VanValkenburg missed a 3-pointer to tie the game.  Velez hit two free throws in the bonus to take another five point lead with 0:28 left, and the Panthers responded with another 3-pointer from Alex Oaks to pull again within two.  Albany Pharmacy fouled Velez again in the double bonus with 0:12 and she was perfect again from the line to seal the 64-60 win for St. Joseph's.

Velez shot 8-for-19 for the game with four from behind the arc.  She also grabbed a trio of rebounds and steals.  Velez's 25 points follows up her career-high 26 point performance against New Rochelle four days ago. Freshman Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) added 12 points and dished out three assists and had two steals.  In 23 minutes, Kakavas chipped in 11 points with four rebounds, three assists and three steals, one of her best performances of her rookie season.  Serewko finished with seven points, a team-high nine rebounds, four blocks and three assists.

Double-doubles from Kelly VanValkenburg (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Alex Oaks(11 points, 12 rebounds) led Albany Pharmacy in the loss.  The Panthers committed 27 turnovers for the game that St. Joseph's converted into 23 points.

St. Joseph's faces College of St. Elizabeth in the tournament championship at Pratt Institute on Sunday, February 15 at 7:00 p.m.  St. Elizabeth defeated Yeshiva University 69-40 in the second semifinal game.