Lady Bears Shock Dolphins With Comeback Victory

BROOKLYN, NY – Trailing by 10 points with just over four minutes to play, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team outscored the College of Mount Saint Vincent 14-2 to finish the game and earn a 72-70 comeback victory over the Dolphins on Thursday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

St. Joseph's (2-8) received a game-high 26 points from senior Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) who also swiped a game-high six steals. McQuillan shot 8-for-15 from the floor, 7-for-8 from the free-throw line, en route to her second straight 20-plus point game, and 23rd of her career.

Junior Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) contributed 14 points, going 10-for-12 from the charity stripe, and pulled down seven rebounds. Sophomore Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic) added 11 points and senior Kristin Binckes (Brooklyn, NY/St. Savior) secured a team-and-season-high 10 boards.

Mount Saint Vincent (3-5) was led by Andrea Sinaly with a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds. Kayla Giordano added 13 points and Brittany Griffin chipped in 12 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double. Sarah Kluth and Kara McNish grabbed 16 and 12 rebounds, respectively, for the Dolphins who held a large 63-36 advantage on the glass.

Both squads jockeyed for the lead throughout the opening period which saw eight ties and four lead changes. The Dolphins began to pull away from the Lady Bears building a six point lead on two occasions, the largest separation between the squads thus far, but jumpers by Binckes and McQuillan and a pair of free-throws from Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) to close the half sent the teams into the lockers deadlocked at 35-35.

Over the first five minutes of the second stanza, Mount Saint Vincent  shot  8-for-13 and outrebounded the Lady Bears 9-2 , jumping out to a 51-43 lead. The Lady Bears seemed to have no response to cut into the Dolphin lead, shooting only 30 percent (10-for-33) in the half and struggled from a 32-19 rebounding differential in the period. The Dolphin lead hovered around double digits and reached its largest point at 12 with 7:31 to play.

With 4:19 to play, Moran fouled out with the Lady Bears trailing by 10 and the outcome for the team with a lone win appeared bleak. But that's when everything changed.

The defense forced five turnovers in a matter of two minutes and began to chip away at the free throw line. After McQuillan sank two free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt, the Lady Bears trailed 68-63, and the crowd could feel the momentum shift. Plagued with foul trouble all game, Joanna Marciniec (Glendale, NY/Baruch) drained a trifecta on their subsequent possession that cut the deficit to two with 1:49 left.

With the crowd now fully energized, the Dolphins missed three straight shots and after the Lady Bears finally came away with the rebound, Doran found her way to the line as she's done all season, sinking the pair and equalizing the game at 68-68.

Shell-shocked, the Dolphins committed their 29th turnover in the game and Kelly McNamee (Glendale, NY/Mary Louis) knocked down a clutch mid-range jumper from the right wing that gave the Lady Bears their first lead of the game since the midway through the first half.

The Dolphins' five-minute field goal drought ended with a Griffin jumper with 19 seconds left that brought the 11th tie of the game, 70-70.

On the Lady Bears' final possession, Doran found her way to the line again on a drive to the hoop. With four ticks on the clock, Doran calmly sank both free throws for the final margin and the Dolphins could only manage a desperation shot in the final seconds that would not draw rim.

St. Joseph's notched their first win in over a month and snapped a three three-game skid against their former HVWAC rivals. The Lady Bears and Dolphins battled for the HVWAC title in 2003, 2005 and 2006 with St. Joseph's going 2-1 in those meetings.

St. Joseph's hits the road looking to build their first winning streak of the season, travelling to south for a weekend road trip. The Lady Bears make their first stop in Baltimore to face Notre Dame University of Maryland tomorrow at 5 p.m. and conclude their southern swing in Newport News, Virginia for a duel against USCAA rivals Apprentice School on Sunday.