Women’s Basketball Closes California Swing Losing to Whittier

WHITTIER, CA – The St. Joseph's College women's basketball team concluded its west coast swing with a 70-39 loss to host Whittier College (7-4) at the Purple and Gold Classic on Sunday afternoon.  Freshman guard Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) led the Lady Bears for the second straight game with 10 points.

St. Joseph's missed their first five shots while Whittier went 5-for-9 and the Lady Bears found themselves quickly down 14-0 in the first four minutes.  A pair of free throws from Mangan, her only points of the half, broke the scoring drought.  However, the Lady Bears offensive woes would continue through the half as they combined to shoot only 5-for-30 (16.7%) mustering only 13 points, trailing 33-13 at the half.

The Lady Bears found some offense in the second stanza shooting 8-for-27 (29.6%) and doubling their output from the first half.  But they couldn't keep pace with the Poets who scored 37 points in the frame and continued to pull away from the Lady Bears.

In a reversal of the opener against La Sierra, Whittier dominated the glass holding a 69-32 rebounding advantage.  The Poets had nearly as many offensive rebounds (31) as the Lady Bears total rebounds.  It was the most rebounds allowed by the Lady Bears and their lowest team rebounding totals this season.  Whittier outshot St. Josephs' 35.6% to 22.8% and was the Lady Bears poorest output since St. Elizabeth's held the Lady Bears to 16-for-75 shooting (21.3%) in the fourth game of the season.

Mangan was the only Lady Bear to finish in double figures, going perfect from the charity stripe (4-for-4) and dishing out a team high three assists and grabbing two rebounds.  Sophomore guard Caitlyn Kakavas (Bayside, NY/St. Agnes) added seven points.  Freshmen Stephanie Quick (Howard Beach, NY/Stella Maris)  and Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) each chipped in five points, both connecting on the only three-pointers for St. Joseph's.

Whittier was led by tournament MVP Tina Merlino who recorded an 11 point, 11 rebound double-double.  Kourtney Zilbert and Brittany Aranda each contributed 12 points while Melissa Johnson grabbed 10 rebounds.

St. Joseph's (5-8) boards a plane back to New York and returns to action on Saturday, January 9th as the Lady Bears host Keystone College as the back end of a doubleheader at Brooklyn Technical High School.  The men tip off at 2:00 p.m. and the women follow at approximately 4:00 p.m.