Lady Bears Extend Streak to Four Defeating Briarcliffe on Senior Night

BROOKLYN, NY – Sophomore guard  Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) scored 26 points to lead the St. Joseph's College women's basketball team past Briarcliffe in a key USCAA battle as the Lady Bears and dance teams celebrated Senior Night on Tuesday evening at Brooklyn Technical High School.

The win is the first over Briarcliffe since 2005 and comes at a crucial stage as the Lady Bears close out the regular season against three USCAA opponents trying to earn a bid to the USCAA National Tournament.  St. Joseph's (12-11, 3-0 HVWAC) remained ranked #16 in the latest coaches' poll released earlier today, while Briarcliffe (9-8) entered the game ranked #15.  The National Tournament is made up of 12 teams.

McQuillan connected on 4-of-6 from behind the arc and 10-for-15 overall to tally her sixth 20+ point game in the last eight games.  She also swiped six steals and dished out four assists, both game highs.  Freshman Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) scored 12 points and swiped six steals, sharing game-high honors with McQuillan.  Freshman Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and had nine points, falling one point shy of her first career-double.  Senior Julia Serewko (Woodside, NY/Mary Louis), playing in her final home game, and sophomore Kristin Binckes (Brooklyn, NY/St. Savior) chipped in six points each.

Danielle Eagan (Harlem, NY) and Nina Creese (Brooklyn, NY) each scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead Briarcliffe.  Tamika Pearson (Uniondale, NY) added eight points.

St. Joseph's continued their hot shooting, finishing above 40 percent for the third time in the last four games.  An early 10-0 run gave the Lady Bears a 16-8 lead they wouldn't relinquish.  Briarcliffe came right back, cutting the deficit to one point, 19-18, nearing the midway point in the half, but St. Joseph's pulled away again, leading by as many as 12 before taking a 45-36 lead at the intermission.

The Lady Bears opened the second stanza on a 13-3 run, opening their largest lead of the game at 19.  With a solid lead, the second half took a slower pace, both teams combining for 48 points compared to 81 in the opening frame, and St. Joseph's attempting 11 fewer shots trying to manage the clock.  Briarcliffe managed to cut the St. Joseph's lead to 11 points, 68-57, with five minutes remaining, but then committed five turnovers and went scoreless for the remainder of the game.

St. Joseph's breaks the .500 mark for the first time since early December.  The Lady Bears close out the regular season this weekend travelling to Virginia to face Christendom on Saturday and then #8 Apprentice on Sunday.  St. Joseph's beat Christendom 50-27 when the two teams met at the Wilson College Tip-Off Tournament earlier this season and seek their first win over Apprentice since 2003-04 season.