Lady Bears Unable to Upset Apprentice

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team concluded their southern road trip with a 53-44 defeat to USCAA rivals Apprentice School on Sunday afternoon.

St. Joseph's (3-9) was led by junior Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) who tallied a game-high 14 points to go along with a team-high 11 rebounds, posting her second double-double this season. Senior Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) added 11 points and sophomore Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic) chipped in eight points. Senior Kristin Binckes (Brooklyn, NY/St. Savior) also grabbed eight rebounds as the Lady Bears won the battle of the boards for only the second time this season, 42-40.

USCAA third-ranked Apprentice (11-1), whose lone defeat was to an NCAA Division II opponent, had a balanced offense with Courtney Collins, Christina Licano and Denise Hamilton scoring 10 points each. Danita Whitaker added eight points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.

The Lady Bears raced out to an early 9-2 advantage in the opening five minutes, with Doran contributing five points on a three-point play and a layup. St. Joseph's led through the midway point of the period powered by 41 percent (12-for-29) first-half shooting, until a 6-0 Apprentice run closed the gap, knotting the game at 16-16.

Both squads exchanged baskets until the three minute mark when the Lady Builders built their largest lead of the half, 28-22, with another 6-0 run. But the Lady Bears cut into the deficit and trailed by only one at the break, 29-28.

In the second half, the Lady Builders would extend their advantage to 10 points as the Lady Bears came out of the lockers flat and managed only two field goals in the first 10 minutes, finding an eight minute drought between McQuillan jumpers. The Lady Bears would finish the half shooting only 26 percent (7-of-27) and struggled to cut into the Lady Builder lead, managing to get within five points on two separate occasions. But Apprentice pushed the lead back to 10 on a Whitaker jumper with 2:23 remaining putting the game out of reach.

The Lady Bears were plagued by 20 turnovers, their first game in the last five with 20-plus miscues, and the Lady Builders were opportunistic, converting into 19 points.  The Lady Bears' 44 points were a season low.

St. Joseph's has a nine day break before resuming a string of five-straight road games, facing SUNY College at Old Westbury on Tuesday, January 17th. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.