Lady Bears Fight Back, Fall Short to Dallas in Holiday Classic

IRVING, TX - After trailing 33-30 at halftime, St. Joseph's Women's Basketball managed to score only 19 second half points, falling to University of Dallas Lady Crusaders 68-49 in the second game of the University of Dallas Holiday Classic.

The Lady Crusaders jumped out to an early 13-2 lead with the Lady Bears unable to score a field goal in the first 7:20.  Dallas maintained their advantage around 8 points for most of the half.  Trailing by 10 with 3:20 to play in the half, Julia Serewko (Queens, NY / Mary Louis) scored 2 straight layups and Joanna Marciniec(Brooklyn, NY / Baruch) hit a layup in transition to start a 14-4 run that equalized the game at 30 with 0:11 remaining in the half.  The Lady Crusaders hit a free throw on the ensuing possession and scored a layup at the buzzer to take a 33-30 lead into the lockers.

St. Joseph's started the second half lethargically allowing Dallas to open with a 13-2 run that extended their lead to 14.  Unfortunately, the Lady Bears would never find their offense shooting 6-for-27 and would not be able to cut the deficit to single digits.  The Lady Bears surrendered 29 rebounds in the second half, including 12 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second chance points.   Dallas also took advantage of the Lady Bears miscues, converting their 10 second-half turnovers into 12 points.  St. Joseph's struggled playing their first game without point guard and leading scorer, freshman Ashley McQuillan(Brooklyn, NY / St. Francis Prep), who was declared academically ineligible last week.  The Lady Bears only managed two assists for the game.

Sophomore Allison Kavanagh (Queens, NY / Mary Louis) led St. Joseph's tallying 15, the only Lady Bear to score in double figures, and grabbed three rebounds and two steals.  Freshmen Caitlyn Kakavas (Queens, NY / St. Agnes) and Joanna Marciniec both added 8 points, Marciniec also grabbing six boards and a trio of steals.  Kristin Binckes(Brooklyn, NY / St. Saviour) had a team high eight rebounds.  The University of Dallas had two players turn in double-double performances, Joirdan Cole (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Meagan Johnson (10 points, 11 rebounds).  Cara Sczepanski also had 18 points and Lauren Wilder had 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting from behind the arc.

St. Joseph's falls to 6-5 on the season and the University of Dallas improves to 3-8.  The Lady Bears face defending Division III champions, Howard Payne University (10-1), tomorrow at 1:00 PM in the second game of the Holiday Classic.