Lady Bears Basketball Captures HVWAC Regular Season Crown Downing ACPHS

BROOKLYN, NY – The St. Joseph's College women's basketball team captured their first Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference regular season title in four years defeating Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences 71-61 on Saturday night behind sophomore Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) game-high 25 points.

McQuillan recorded her sixth 20+ point game this season on 39 percent shooting (7-for-18) from the floor and 75 percent shooting (9-for-12) from the charity stripe and swiped a game-high six steals.  Sophomore forward Kristin Binckes (Brooklyn, NY/St. Savior) compiled her first career double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds.  Freshman guard Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) nearly had a double-double, adding nine points with nine rebounds and dishing out four assists.

Senior Richa Mehta led Albany Pharmacy (6-12, 2-1 HVWAC) with 17 points, Katie McCormack had a 14 point, 12 rebound double-double and Kelly VanValkenburgh added 15 points with five steals and five rebounds.

The Lady Bears pressure defense proved to be the difference in the tightly contested game that saw 10 ties and 14 lead changes.  St. Joseph's forced 30 Panthers turnovers and combined for 19 steals and nearly half of the Lady Bears points (32) came off Albany Pharmacy turnovers.  St. Joseph's committed only 12 turnovers for the game.

St. Joseph's built an early 14-6 lead thanks to eight Panther turnovers in the first six minutes.  The Albany Pharmacy offense settled down and took the lead back, 20-19 with 8:24 remaining.  The Lady Bears responded with a McQuillan trifeca to take back the lead, but the offense stalled making only one field goal over the final eight minutes.  Albany Pharmacy built a six point lead, but three late turnovers sent McQuillan and Caitlyn Kakavas (Bayside, NY/St. Agnes) to the charity stripe where they were a perfect 6-for-6 in the final 1:23 to equalize the game 30-30.  A buzzer beating desperation three-pointer by Mehta gave the Panthers a three-point lead at halftime, 33-30.

After the Lady Bears reclaimed the lead three minutes into the second half, the remainder of the frame became a see-saw battle with both teams exchanging the lead nine times and neither team gaining more than a three point advantage.  St. Joseph's finally broke open the game with a 12-3 run capped by a McQuillan steal and fast break layup that gave the Lady Bears a nine point lead with under three minutes to play.  A VanValkenburgh three-pointer cut the deficit to six with 36 seconds left, but subsequent three-point attempts were off the mark and the Lady Bears pulled away at the foul line.

In the second half, St. Joseph's committed only two turnovers and shot an improved 36 percent from the floor.  Albany Pharmacy's output decreased in the half, making only seven field goals, shooting 22 percent for the frame.  The Panthers held a 57-45 rebounding edge for the game.

The last time the Lady Bears won the regular season title was in 2006 where they compiled a 5-0 conference record and went on to win the conference tournament defeating the College of Mount Saint Vincent.

St. Joseph's (11-11, 3-0) improves to .500 and returns to action on Tuesday, February 9th hosting #14 Briarcliffe in a USCAA battle that could have tournament bid implications.  The Lady Bears will also celebrate Senior Night, recognizing the final home game for Julia Serewko (Woodside, NY/Mary Louis) and the three seniors on the dance team.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Brooklyn Technical High School.