Lady Bears Remain Perfect in HVWAC Dismissing New Rochelle

NEW ROCHELLE, NY – In another combined team effort, 11 different Lady Bears scored a basket as the St. Joseph's College women's basketball team outscored New Rochelle 36-13 in the second half to capture a 63-34 Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference triumph on Tuesday night.

The victory bolsters the Lady Bears to 3-0 in conference play (9-12 overall) and elevates them to sole possession of first place heading into this Saturday's showdown with Albany Pharmacy (12-3, 2-0 HVWAC), a rematch of last year's HVWAC title game and with the 2010-11 regular season title on the line.

Making her first career start, freshman Kelly McNamee (Glendale, NY/Mary Louis) scored 11 points in a lackluster first half where St. Joseph's shot 28 percent. The Lady Bears led by as many as 13, but New Rochelle cut the deficit to four before St. Joseph's headed into the break up 27-21.

After a three-pointer by Elizabeth Johnston on the Blue Angels' second possession of the second half, St. Joseph's held New Rochelle scoreless for 11 minutes, jumping out to a 30 point advantage, which they held steady until the final buzzer for the wire-to-wire victory.

The Lady Bears swiped a season-best 25 steals en route to forcing 30 Blue Angel turnovers.

McNamee finished with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting to lead St. Joseph's. Newly minted 1,000 point scorer, Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep), added 10 points, seeing only 14 minutes of action and set game highs in steals (5) and assists (4). Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) had seven points and four steals while Tara Gleason (Woodside, NY/Stella Maris) and Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic's) chipped in six points each. Elizabeth Shea (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) pulled down a career-high eight rebounds.

Janine Jones led New Rochelle (2-13, 1-3 HVWAC) with a 17 point, 10 rebound double-double. Elizabeth Johnston contributed 10 points.

St. Joseph's returns to action on Saturday, February 5th travelling to Albany, NY for their final road game of the season. The Lady Bears open a doubleheader with the men against Hudson Valley rivals Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences starting at 4:00 pm. Fans can follow the Lady Bears attempt to clinch the regular season title via the live game stats and audio courtesy of Albany Pharmacy. Links are available on www.sjcbears.com.