Late Surge Powers St. Joseph’s-LI Past Lady Bears

BROOKLYN, NY – St. Joseph's College-Long Island outscored St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn 9-2 in the final minute to win 58-49, in a women's basketball game that opened the inaugural "Clash for the Cup" doubleheader marking the annual sibling rivalry between the campuses.  Junior Allison Kavanagh (Woodhaven, NY/Mary Louis) and freshman Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) netted 10 points each to lead the Lady Bears.  Long Island's Trish McMahon (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford) led all scorers with a 19 points.

The game was tightly contested throughout, played before the largest crowd ever for a St. Joseph's College game at Brooklyn Technical High School.  Neither team could pull away in the opening frame, the half seeing six ties and four lead changes.  Midway through the period, the Lady Bears built their largest lead of the game at four points, but the Eagles responded with a 10-0 run over the next 2:16 to take a six point advantage, 23-17, the largest by either team in the half.  Brooklyn fought back to tie the game just before the two minute mark, but entered the locker rooms trailing 28-26.

A 5-0 run to open the second half gave Brooklyn a slight 31-28 edge, but Long Island scored the next six points unanswered to take back the lead.  Later in the frame, a five minute Lady Bears scoring drought opened a 12-4 Eagles run, capped by a Carissa Pirotta (Northport, NY/Northport) three-pointer, building a seven point lead, 46-39, the largest separation at the time.  Brooklyn scored the next three field goals to pull within one with 3:55 left, with buckets from Kavanagh and Mangan who combined to score 15 of the Lady Bears 23 second half points.

A Mangan jumper at the 1:24 mark brought Brooklyn within two, 49-47, but Long Island scored the next nine points, all coming from the charity stripe.  The Lady Bears surrendered two crucial offensive rebounds and a turnover opening the Eagles lead to seven with 0:46 left.  The Lady Bears missed on their next three shots and were forced to foul, padding the Eagles lead.

For the game, the Eagles held a slight advantage in shooting (27.7%-26.6%) despite shooting only 18.2 (6-for-33) in the second half.  More than half of Long Island's second half points came from the free throw line (17 FTM, 30 points), where they had a distinct advantage in attempts (29-10).  The Eagles also held an advantage in rebounding (65-45), with 44 defensive rebounds coming off the Lady Bears' 63 missed shots.  Brooklyn had 18 steals to help win the turnover battle (28-19).

Kavanagh and Mangan each added six rebounds to their team-high 10 points.  Julia Serewko (Woodside, NY/Mary Louis) pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds, her third game this season with double-digit boards.  The senior center also had a game-high five assists.  Sophomore guard Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) added eight points and five steals and sophomore guard Joanna Marciniec (Glendale, NY/Baruch) also chipped in eight points, on 2-for-4 shooting from behind the arc, and grabbing four rebounds.

For the Eagles, McMahon, Long Island's all-time leading scorer, also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds (nine defensive) in addition to her game-high point total.  Pirotta finished with 13 points on 3-for-7 shooting from three-point land and sophomore Nicole Redding (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) added 10 points.

The Lady Bears have a two week break for finals, before returning to action on Monday, December 28th facing New Jersey City University in a non-conference game that will take place in East Rutherford, NJ at the Izod Center, prior to the New Jersey Nets/Oklahoma City Thunder game.  The Lady Bears will tip off at 3 p.m. and the NBA game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.  Tickets can be purchased for $30 in the Athletics Office, which includes admission to both games.  Call 718.940.5833 for more info.