Lady Bears Winless In St. Elizabeth Thanksgiving Tournament

MORRISTOWN, NJ – The St. Joseph's College women's basketball team suffered two setbacks over the weekend, dropping a 67-45 decision to perennial rival College of St. Elizabeth on Saturday and falling 47-32 to UMass-Boston in the consolation of the College of St. Elizabeth Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Lady Bears poor shooting proved to be the key factor, with many shots bouncing in and out, going a combined 22.7% (30-for-132) from the floor while opponents shot 35.8% (38-for-106).

In the opener, a rematch of last year's HVWAC Championship game, St. Elizabeth's picked up where they left off, building an early 6-1 lead and never turning back.  St. Joseph's pulled within two points midway through the opening frame, but the Screaming Eagles opened an 11-point advantage at halftime.  St. Elizabeth's shot 50.0% in the second stanza helping develop their largest lead of the game at 25.

Sophomore guard Caitlyn Kakavas (Bayside, NY/St. Agnes) paced St. Joseph's with 10 points, her third double-digit game this season.  Two Mary Louis products, senior center Julia Serewko (Woodside, NY/Mary Louis) and junior forward Allison Kavanagh (Woodhaven, NY/Mary Louis) pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.  Freshman point guard Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) chipped in nine points.

Four Screaming Eagles scored in double figures led by a pair of 14-point performances from Bridget Sweeney and Sarah Kozlowski.

In the consolation, St. Joseph's exchanged the lead four times in the opening frame but the Lady Bear offense stalled over the final 8:36, UMass Boston closing the half on a 15-0 run taking a 26-12 lead into the lockers which was the closest the Lady Bears would get for the remainder of the game.

McQuillan led the Lady Bears in scoring for the third time this season, tallying seven points and a season-high six steals.  Freshman guard Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) added five points in a reserve role and pulled down a career and team-high six rebounds.

Caroline Ashe led three Beacons in double figures scoring 19 points and adding five rebounds.  The Beacons held a 58-29 rebounding advantage (40-22 on the defensive glass), with five players grabbing seven or more rebounds.

Serewko was named to the All-Tournament Team in ceremonies after the championship, where host College of St. Elizabeth defeated Medgar Evers 68-57.

St. Joseph's (2-3, 1-0 HVWAC) looks to return to .500 facing Fisher College in a non-conference home matchup on Thursday, December 3 at Brooklyn Technical H.S.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.