Lady Bears Drop Nail-Biter to Brooklyn College

BROOKLYN, NY – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team suffered another close setback at home, falling 69-65 to borough rivals Brooklyn College on Tuesday evening at Brooklyn Technical High School.

St. Joseph's (1-6) was led junior guard Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) who netted a game-high 20 points, matching her career best. Mangan drained 4-of-5 from three-point land, while shooting 8-for-20 overall. Junior forward Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) recorded her fifth career double-double, and first of the season, scoring 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting and pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds. Senior guard Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) also contributed 16 points.

Brooklyn (6-1) was paced by junior Tiffany Thompson who posted a 17 point, 13 rebound double-double. Senior Justine O'Callahan added 14 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Doran scored seven points in the first five and a half minutes, helping the Lady Bears to build an early 11-5 lead. The Lady Bears held the lead throughout the first half until an O'Callahan jumper at the 8:54 mark knotted the game at 19-19 and the Bulldogs would pull away from the Lady Bears leading by as many as six points, 37-31. But St. Joseph's would close the half on a 6-0 run to enter the lockers tied at 37-37.

Both squads went back and forth to open the second stanza, until a 10-2 Bulldog run over a five minute span brought the biggest separation between the two squads, 56-47, with 8:15 remaining.

But Doran would power another Lady Bears run, capping a seven point burst in two minutes with a conventional three-point play that pull St. Joseph's within one, 59-58, with 3:41 remaining.

After an O'Callahan layup gave the Bulldogs a three point lead, Mangan sank a deep step-back triple, tying the game at 61-61, with just over two minutes left. McQuillan then swiped a steal and was fouled on the break, going 1-for-2 from the stripe to give the Lady Bears a 62-61 lead and the momentum seemingly in their favor.

But the Bulldogs grabbed the lead back, scoring five points unanswered in less than a minute capped by a layup after a critical offensive rebound off a missed free throw that gave the Bulldogs a 66-62 lead with 1:13 left.

McQuillan immediately responded with a trifecta from the right wing pulling the Lady Bears back within one, prompting a coach Carbone timeout to set up the defense.

On the ensuing possession, the Lady Bears nearly picked up the defensive stop they were looking for, but a layup from Lauren Plagainos in traffic with the shot clock winding down boosted the Bulldog lead back up to three.

Still trailing only one possession with 31 seconds remaining, the Lady Bears managed two good looks at the basket to equalize, but neither would fall and Thompson secured her game-high 13th rebound and put the game out of reach from the free throw line.

The Bulldogs, who had six players equal or taller than the Lady Bears tallest player, held a large advantage on the glass, 58-39, which included 24 on the offensive end. The Bulldogs also dominated inside, scoring 32 points inside the paint, doubling the Lady Bears total and accounting for nearly half their overall output.

St. Joseph's returns to action hosting sister campus St. Joseph's – Long Island on Saturday, December 10th in the friendly East vs. West rivalry tripleheader. The action at Brooklyn Technical High School begins at 3 p.m. with a women's swimming matchup against the Golden Eagles, followed by women's basketball at 5 p.m. and headlined by men's basketball at 8 p.m.