Lady Bears Struggle in Loss to Golden Eagles

BROOKLYN, NY – The Lady Bears shot a paltry 27.5% (19-for-69) from the floor and were outdone by the Golden Eagles in a 72-58 home loss Saturday evening, dropping their record to 1-7 on the season.

Both teams were cold at the start, as it took until the 11:18 mark before either reached double-digit points. Back-to-back buckets by Kelly McNamee (Glendale, NY/Mary Louis) and Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic) put the Lady Bears up 13-11 midway through the opening frame.

That was the last time the Lady Bears held a lead, as the Golden Eagles (4-4, 1-2 Skyline) went on a 24-12 run to close the half. Without forward Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy), the Lady Bears were at a disadvantage down-low and the Golden Eagles took advantage scoring 14 points in the paint to the Lady Bears' four.

The second half picked up where the first ended as the Lady Bears couldn't cut into the Golden Eagles lead. The Golden Eagles pushed the lead to a game-high 19 on a three-pointer by Christina Cohen with 10:49 remaining in the game.

The Lady Bears were able to put together a 14-4 run with seven points coming from Joanna Marciniec (Glendale, NY/Baruch), to narrow the gap to nine with 6:14 remaining, but that was as close as the Lady Bears came.

The Lady Bears were only able to score nine more points the rest of the way and the Golden Eagles put the game away at the free-throw line, going 6-for-8 down the stretch.

Marciniec and Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic) both recorded their first double-doubles of the season. Moran had a game-high 13 rebounds to along with 15 points and Marciniec added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) led the Lady Bears with 16 points and McNamee came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting and connecting on all six attempts from the free-throw line.

The Golden Eagles were led by Amanda Bender who had a game-high 24 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds to complete the double-double. Bender got help from Danielle Redding and Laura Cohen who scored 16 points each. Redding also notched a double-double, securing 12 rebounds.

The Lady Bears are away from the hardwood for nearly three full weeks, returning on December 29th to take on Vaughn in their first Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference battle of the season. The matinee tips off at 1:00 pm.