Lady Bears Hold Off Albany Pharmacy for HVWAC Title

NEW ROCHELLE, NY – With 0:33 left and St. Joseph's trailing by one, Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) hit two free throws to put the Lady Bears up for good leading St. Joseph's to a 56-53 victory over #2 Albany Pharmacy in the 2010 HVWAC Championship game on Sunday night.  McQuillan finished with 20 points and was named Tournament MVP.

McQuillan shot 9-for-10 from the charity stripe, dished out four assists and had three steals.  After being named Rookie of the Week last week, freshman Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) capped off her rookie season with her first career double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down a team high 10 rebounds.  Sophomore Kristin Binckes (Brooklyn, NY/St. Savior) added seven points and swiped a game-high five steals, the last coming with final seconds to seal the title for the St. Joseph's.  Senior Julia Serewko (Woodside, NY/Mary Louis) and freshman Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) chipped in six points each, with the rookie also grabbing eight rebounds.

Senior Kelly VanValkenburgh led Albany College of Pharmacy with 15 points, senior Amber Batzold added 13 points and had nine rebounds, just missing out on a double-double, and sophomore Alex Oaks rounded out the three Panthers in double-figures with 10 points.  Sophomore Katie McCormack grabbed a game-high 12 caroms.

In the opening frame, the Lady Bears went on a 12-4 run to build their largest lead of the half at 10 with 2:48 remaining.  St. Joseph's missed their final five shots and Albany Pharmacy outscored the Lady Bears 7-2 to trail 34-29 at intermission.

St. Joseph's scored the first nine points of the second stanza and built their largest lead of the game at 14.  The Panthers clawed back into the game with their own 9-0 run, cutting the Lady Bear lead to two with just over seven minutes to play.  Three straight conversions from Binckes, McQuillan and Serewko pushed the St. Joe's lead back up to eight with over five minutes to play.

The Lady Bears went scoreless for nearly five minutes and committed five turnovers, allowing another Albany Pharmacy 9-0 run which gave the Panthers their first lead of the game, 53-52, with just under a minute remaining.  After coach Frank Carbone called a timeout to set up the offense, the Lady Bears patiently moved the ball around until McQuillan was fouled on her way to the hoop.  The tournament MVP calmly sank both free throws to take back the lead.  On the ensuing possession, St. Joseph's applied full-court pressure and McQuillan stole the ball near mid-court and was fouled with five ticks left, making both free throws to force Albany Pharmacy to hit a three-pointer to tie.  Once again, the Lady Bears pressure forced another turnover at mid-court to clinch the win.

In ceremonies after the game, McQuillan and Mangan were named to the 2009-10 All-Conference Team.

St. Joseph's (15-12) captures their first conference title since 2006.  The Lady Bears will make their seventh appearance all-time in the USCAA National Tournament at Penn State Fayette in Uniontown, PA.  St. Joseph's is the #9 seed and will face #8 Cincinnatti-Clermont in the opening round.